


No One's Ever Really Gone

by ThirstOrder3987



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ahch-To, Alternate Reality, Ben Solo Deserved Better, Ben Solo Lives, Children, Children of Characters, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Reylo, Dark Side Rey, Desert, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Issues, First Time, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force Ghost(s), Force Healing, Force Sex (Star Wars), Force Visions, Foursome Rey/Ben/Kylo/Dark Rey, Fusion of Star Wars Legends and Disney Canon, Gray Jedi, Green Eyes, Happy Ending, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Kylo Ren Redemption, Loss of Virginity, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Married Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Newborn Children, Parents Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Pilot Ben Solo, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Episode: s04e13 A World Between Worlds, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Pregnancy, Pregnant Rey (Star Wars), Redeemed Ben Solo, Redemption, Reincarnation, Resurrection, Seduction to the Dark Side, Sexual Content, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Humor, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers, Tatooine (Star Wars), That's Not How The Force Works, The Dark Side of the Force, The Force, The Force Ships It, Time Travel, Twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:41:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 91
Words: 239,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21887557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirstOrder3987/pseuds/ThirstOrder3987
Summary: Ben Solo was home.She placed her hands on his chest, touched his face, curled his hair around her fingers…“Ben” she could barely get the words out. “You’re… here...”Ben smiled at her. “I told you I’d come back for you.”“I knew you’d come back but I thought you’d be…”“A ghost? Yeah… Me too.”This isn’t going to go the way you think…
Relationships: Cassian Andor & Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Finn/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren & Rey, Kylo Ren/Rey, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Revan & Bastila Shan, Revan/Bastila Shan, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Zorii Bliss/Poe Dameron
Comments: 1046
Kudos: 1293
Collections: TROS Reylo Fix-it Fics, The Rise of Skywalker: Fix-It Fic Edition





	1. A Promise Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story is based on my fan theory explaining the end of TROS, which left me with more questions than answers. Trying to figure out what had really happened, I went over all I'd learned about this fandom and trilogy the past four years. When the pieces started fitting together, a truly beautiful story began to unfold...

Artist Credit: Seduf

Pulling himself over the cliff, Ben saw Rey’s lifeless body laid out before him. The light had gone out of her amber eyes. Even with all the Jedi behind her it had taken all she had to defeat the Emperor. The sight should have broken him, and had it come any moment in time before this it would have. However in this moment- seeing her body still present, sensing a tiny spark of life still holding on, knowing what all that meant- it was a welcome relief. 

After all this time he finally knew what he had to do, and he truly had the strength to do it. 

He took her in his arms and held her close, just like he’d dreamed of as long as he could remember, before he even knew who “the girl” truly was. 

He'd dreamed of this moment for so long- what it would feel like to hold her close- and yet now that it was here, it wasn't at all like he'd imagined. The tragedy of it would have been the end of him, had he not felt his first true sense of purpose in as long as he could remember. 

“Can you hear me? Hold on...” He said, hoping with everything he had that the tiny spark he sensed would be enough to keep her with him while he brought her back. 

He felt his life force welling up inside of him, held his hand over her, and began to pour all of himself into her. He felt his life draining from him, taking hold within her, all the while praying he’d have a few moments with her in this body before he transformed. When the light came back into her eyes, he’d never felt more complete. The two of them were one, two beings joined with a single purpose, as it was always meant to be. 

He leaned into her ear and whispered words Rey felt so familiar with, she’d always thought of them as a memory.

“I’ll come back for you sweetheart, I promise.” 

She already knew it to be true. The Force would never separate a dyad as powerful as theirs, nor one with a shared destiny as important as theirs. Whether in these bodies or transformed by the Force, from this moment on they were finally united and would always be together. What the brokenness of the physical world had always fought to separate, now no one could keep apart.

Rey drank in the happiness of those now beaming dark eyes. She knew it would be the last time she’d see them in this form, but the first of many Ben smiles she’d get to enjoy. 

In that moment she had to have more, to connect on a physical level instead of just a spiritual one. She felt herself surge forward and take his face in her hands as she kissed him with all the love he'd just given back to her. 

As they kissed, the peace they both felt continued to grow and envelope them. Rey wanted it to last forever, and now because they had found their strength together, it would. 

Rey's smile faded for a second as she pulled away, feeling Ben’s life force draining from his body. She hated how cold she felt him becoming, she'd never wanted to let go of his warm embrace. 

She'd known this was something that was coming, since waking up just a few moments before. It was time for him to take the next step in his journey, and that was something she could never hold him back from. 

She felt all the pain that his body had endured during this life finally lifting from him. He was free to become what he was meant to be, all that this physical world would never allow him to be. 

And yet… there was something else... 

Their love had done more than just transfer Ben’s life force to her. It was creating even more life where there had been none. They both felt a part of his energy taking hold inside of her womb and begin to grow. The children they’d seen in their visions were being brought into the beginning of their physical forms as their father passed from his. 

Ben gave her one last knowing smile, as they both felt the miracle happening within her. Their eyes both brimmed with tears knowing their union within the Force had created life from death. With that, they were both ready to let him pass into his next form as one with the Force. No sadness, no fear, no grief. 

This wasn’t goodbye. 

This was the beginning of a journey they’d both always dreamed of but had never known how to achieve until this moment.

*****

Rey landed on Endor and lept from her X wing at the sight of all of her friends. This was what they’d all fought so long and hard to achieve. However like so many things in life that are dreamed of and imagined for some time, it was totally different than she expected now that it was here. A part of her ached to have Ben there with her, but also knew it wouldn’t have been right for him if he had been. He’d played his part in the fate of the galaxy, and that hadn’t included anything that would allow him to join in this celebration. Rey did all she could to enjoy the festivities, but she couldn’t help but feel she had somewhere else she needed to be.

*****

Rey flew in Lukes X wing for what felt like forever. She knew it was the last time for a while she’d be free to fly among the stars. She now felt a feeling that was both new and totally familiar to her. She had to get home. Not to the place she’d been abandoned as a child, not to wait for those who she knew were never coming back, her true home. A place where no one would find them. A place where they could raise their children as the family they’d always been destined to become.

She stepped onto the sands of Tatooine and felt a belonging she’d never known. The vastness of the desert no longer reminded her of how alone she was. It was a welcome isolation from the world that had fought to keep her from becoming what she was meant to be, the world that would have never let her be with her match in the Force, the world that wouldn’t be ready to accept her children when they arrived- if they knew who their father was.

*****

Rey watched the twin suns set, and as their light faded over the horizon she gasped as she felt the now familiar strength of his arms wrap around her from behind. 

Ben Solo was home. 

She turned her head and their mouths met in a kiss that had them both finally feeling every bit as whole and wrapped in love as the last they’d shared on Exegol.

Rey turned to face him, her eyes filling with tears of joy at the welcome, beautiful sight of him. She brushed back loose black curls, and took in his pure untouched face. He’d been reborn in the Force and his transformation was complete. All his pain and suffering had been lifted. He was no longer a broken man tormented by the dark side, nor was he the lost half of a dyad, tortured by being kept away from his mate. He was one with the Force, healed, made whole, free from the suffering the world had put him through when he was in his physical form. 

His physical form… the thought shook her from the euphoria that seeing him had brought over her. She placed her hands on his chest, touched his face, curled his hair around her fingers…

“Ben” she could barely get the words out. “You’re… here...”

Ben smiled at her. “I told you I’d come back for you.”

“No, I mean you’re… you’re REALLY here!” She grasped his hands tight, holding them up in front of their faces in wonder.

Ben’s eyes suddenly widened as he let go of her hands and stepped back in shock. He turned his hands over in amazement.

“I knew you’d come back but I thought you’d be…” 

“A ghost? Yeah… Me too.”

Still in shock, he then uttered a phrase both had heard in visions but had never actually said to each other.

“The dark side is a path to abilities many might consider…” he paused then said the next word as if finally realizing it’s full depth “..unnatural.”

“Yes… but, we defeated the Dark side. That’s-”

“Did we?” He looked back at her, coming down from the shock of his somehow renewed existence.

There it was again, that uncertainty that she never quite knew what he was thinking, even though she always knew what he was thinking, as if those both somehow made sense

_This isn’t going to go the way you think… ___

__Rey was stunned, overwhelmed with more emotions than she’d ever felt in a single moment. The joy of having Ben back, the shock of seeing him whole, the confusion over what that meant._ _

__Suddenly Ben closed his eyes, vanished for a few moments, then reappeared._ _

__“That’s new.” Never a man of many words, this was definitely her Ben._ _

__He looked back down at her, taking in the depth of all that had happened. “We defeated Palpatine but… I’m still not entirely sure what we did.”_ _

__“I _do _know things are going to get a lot more interesting around here in the next year or so.” Rey mused, bringing them back to the reality of all that had transpired.___ _

____Ben beamed as he took her back in his arms, putting his hand over where he’d given her the thing they’d both had visions of for so long but were only finally beginning to understand_ _ _ _

____“Do you still have the Jedi Texts Luke gave you?” He asked, unable to take his eyes of her belly._ _ _ _

____“Stole them from Luke is more like it but yes.”_ _ _ _

____The thought of Rey stealing sacred texts from his Uncle made Ben smile even more. She really was his match._ _ _ _

____“We should read them. Together.”_ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this theory and story brings as much joy to those reading it as it has given me coming up with it. It’s helped me find peace and begin to love an ending that had initially felt devastating. This is my first fan fiction submission, so I’d love to hear what you think! Thank you for taking the time to read my work!  
> -Gina
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	2. A Promise Kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey are finally home, ready to begin the happily ever after they've always dreamed of. Before they jump into figuring out what’s happened to Ben, Ben has a surprise for Rey.

The final light of the twin suns set over the horizon as the desert winds picked up. They’d dreamt of the home they’d make together their entire lives, and here it was laid out before them on what felt like the edge of the world. Where most would have seen an abandoned moisture farm buried under years of sand storms, they saw paradise. Neither could remember feeling like they belonged somewhere so much. Both had spent most of recent memory living in spaces just big enough for them to sleep alone. Even as Supreme Leader of the First Order, Ben’s expansive personal quarters had felt more like a prison than anywhere he’d ever laid his head. 

Standing in front of the domed ground level entrance, Rey was on edge with anticipation at what they’d find inside. The courtyard covered with sand was enough to let her know it hadn’t been occupied in years, though an underground homestead in the middle of a desert couldn’t have fallen too far into disrepair. She knew that from her former life on Jakuu. Deserts preserved what other worlds would have broken apart. 

They made their way down the stairs and hallway of the tunnel entrance, but before they entered the courtyard Ben stopped her.

“Close your eyes.” 

Waiting a moment longer to take in their new home was the last thing Rey wanted to do, but she trusted him. She waited patiently as she felt him leave. She heard the winds pick up as he used the Force to clear the courtyard and scatter the sands back to the desert where they belonged. She felt the push and pull of his energy as large objects flew back and forth between rooms. Her heart jumped in her chest, wondering what all he was doing. 

Ben vaguely remembered the space from a visit with his parents as a child. Some distant relations had occupied it for a time after Luke’s aunt and uncle were murdered, and they’d stopped to see them on the way to somewhere else. It was one of many trips where he just remembered feeling in the way. He tried not to think about it as he moved items around to make it more of a home to fit their needs. He wasn’t quite sure yet what those needs would be, but he was sure it wouldn’t be the cluttered mess of a place he’d found that appeared to have been left quickly. He wanted every part of their new home to feel open and welcoming. He never wanted his wife or children to feel in the way. 

His wife- the word stuck in his mind. Part of his heart ached that they’d never actually said the words. He’d offered his hand to her once and she’d refused it, with good reason. He hated to think what their life would have been had she said yes. Now so much had happened, it wasn’t likely they’d ever get to be joined as man and wife, not in a traditional sense anyway. Not unless the galaxy forgot who he was. Words like “till death do us part” seemed more than a little redundant. Still, he wanted to give Rey everything. He wanted them to have everything other lovers had, even if that meant they had to get creative about ceremonies that might not apply to people who don’t yet fully understand their own existence.

He went to the maintenance area and used his power to create two rings out of some spare steel. It wasn’t much, but it was everything they needed.

Rey felt herself growing anxious as she felt him move from room to room. Whatever he was doing he was taking his time, even- the maintenance area? Oh what could he possibly need in there…

“Ben come ON.” She couldn’t stop herself from entering his mind, tired of waiting to explore their new home together.

Ben laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll see.”

When he was finished, he went back to Rey in the hallway, took her hands, and walked her down the steps into the courtyard.

“Now you can look.” 

Ben was standing in front of her with that same nervous look he’d had in the throne room, as if whatever she did next was what his entire world hinged on.

“Rey, I offered you the galaxy once. It wasn’t something either of us wanted, nor should it have been. I have nothing to offer you now but myself, and I’m not even sure how much of me is left. I’m not sure if the world will ever find us again. I hope it doesn’t for a while. But if anyone ever finds us here, I want them to know I’m yours. I’ve been given a second chance, and I’m not wasting it this time. Everything that I am, whatever that is, it’s yours.” He paused, taking a deep breath, his voice shaking slightly. “Rey, will you be my wife?”

Rey was shocked. After everything that had happened, a proposal was the last thing she’d been thinking about. She couldn’t get the words out fast enough. 

“Of course I will.” She put her hand up to his face, she had to touch him in this moment. “Ben, you are the only thing I’ve ever truly wanted.”

He brought the two rings out of his pocket and slid one on to her finger. He suddenly looked nervous.

“I don’t remember any of the words. I can’t remember if I’ve ever even been to a wedding.”

Rey laughed, “Me neither.” She took the other ring and slid it onto his finger. “All that matters is I’m yours, and you’re mine. Always. Beyond death, beyond life. Forever.”

“Forever.”

Ben wrapped her in his arms and they kissed, neither ever wanting to pull away from that moment. They had everything they had ever wanted. They stayed locked in each other’s arms as darkness fully fell and the desert winds picked up, blowing sand around them. Rey didn’t mind one bit as she cuddled into Ben. She was going to get very used to this. 

Ben whispered in her ear words she’d waited her whole life to hear. “We’re finally home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Reylos we've all waited years for a second proposal that Ben never got to give Rey on screen, and I wasn't about to let that slide. For mental health reasons I figured we all needed some fluff and romance before diving into theories. Chapter three is almost done and it will be up soon. It will be a bit longer, tell a tiny bit more about what's happened to them since Exegol, and of course things will get a bit steamier. ;) 
> 
> Thank you all so much to every one who's commented and enjoyed this so far! The more I work on this fan theory, the more ideas fall into place and the more confident I am that Ben and Rey's story is really just beginning. Our ship is still flying high Reylos! Can't wait to see where it takes us next...
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	3. Coming Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey are finally home and joined as man and wife as they've always dreamed. There's still one last thing they've yet to do before they truly have everything they've ever wanted. When that happens, The Force still has a few more surprises in store for them.

Exploring the homestead together was like something from a dream. The interior space dwarfed the Falcon, which was by far the largest structure she’d ever called home. The kitchen alone was larger than the At At she’d occupied most of her life. Every cabinet and drawer was a new discovery. She never dreamed she’d have a space like this to call her own, and even better, to share with the man she loved. 

After taking in the living and working spaces, Ben brought her to the final space he’d prepared- their room. He’d only found three twin beds in the entire complex, and had put them together to make one large bed for them to share. As simple as it was, it was the most beautiful scene either of them had ever seen. It was the space where they would spend every night from now on together, where they would finally be able to make love after being kept apart for what felt like several life times.

“Ben- it’s,” No words were needed as her eyes filled with tears. She turned and kissed him longingly, wrapping her arms around him to hold him as tightly as she could. Neither one could wait any longer. Kisses cascaded from their mouths as clothing was pulled off. It felt like they’d known exactly what they wanted to do to each other forever. As Ben lowered her sleeves and kissed her shoulders he suddenly stopped. 

“Your scar... it’s _gone. ___”

She ran her hand over her smooth skin it as if to make sure it was real, then looked down at her forearms. Even though she always wrapped her arms tightly, years of scavenging in confined places with jagged metal had left several scars she knew well. All of them had vanished. She frantically looked for other scars she knew on her legs, her back, all scrapes from her fights and struggles of the past. All of them were gone. Her skin was as perfect and untouched as if she were a newborn.

Ben realized immediately what had happened. He wasn’t the only one who’d undergone a transformation. 

“Everything that happens to one of us… happens to the other.” 

Rey was still in complete shock, then side eyed Ben as she touched her belly.

“Well, maybe not everything.”

Ben held her face in his hands, and suddenly couldn’t hold back laughter. All of the emotions of all that had just happened to them were too much. The laughter came more and more and his eyes began to water with tears.

“What– what is so funny? Ben, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and yet I feel like I’m going insane-“

“No, not- it’s not funny. It’s wonderful. You’re wonderful. Everything in my life, everything I ever did, all of it was wrong. Now you’re here, and suddenly every thing is perfect, everything is right.” 

Overcome again with passion and not able to wait any longer, he picked her up, carried her to the bed, and laid her down. With that Rey stopped caring about whatever the force was up to and pulled him in, resuming their endless kisses she’d been holding in for far too long. Ben suddenly sat up with a look as determined as any he’d ever had.

“I want you to lay still." He said, his eyes heavy as he looked over her beautiful naked body laid out below him. "I'm going to worship every perfect inch of you.”

Rey wanted to jump on top of him, to let go all of the passion she’d been holding inside for him, but she did as he asked. 

Ben’s kisses started on her forehead, down her neck and shoulders, along her arms down to her fingertips, back to her chest. He gave her the most tender kisses on her breasts and took her nipple in his mouth, causing her to moan with anticipation. 

Holding back from him would be hard, but still she obeyed. 

He worshipped both her breasts with his mouth and hands, sucking and making circles with his tongue around her right nipple as he held and massaged her left breast, slightly ticking that nipple with his beautiful long fingers. The warmth of his large hands on her body brought her arousal closer and closer to where she needed to be. 

Next his kisses trailed down her belly, she breathed heavily thinking of where else his mouth might go. When he kissed her hips and moved down to position himself between her legs, she could almost hear her heart pounding in her chest. 

Ben kissed the fabric of her underwear on top of her mound before slowly removing them, taking the last piece of clothing she had off of her. She could feel his energy surge at the sight of her naked body laid out before him. 

Still, he held back and somehow, and so did she. 

He leaned down between her thighs, kissed the top of her mound, then lifted her legs and kissed along them, teasing her further and making her sigh deeply with anticipation.

“Ben please, I don’t know how long I can hold back.”

He smiled as he leaned back down between her thighs, ready to give her body what it craved. He planted the warmest kiss on her lips, the warmth of his mouth teasing her further... 

Suddenly she felt his tongue slowly dive in, starting at her opening and moving slowly upward, covering the softest, warmest part of her body. 

Nothing had ever felt so incredible. She’d pleasured herself many times alone at night, but even her best efforts were nothing compared to his soft, wet tongue on her. Gods how she'd imagined all the things he'd be able to do fir her once they were finally together, and now that it was here, it as so, so much more than anything her mind could have conjured. 

As Ben's eyes stared hungrily up at her, the sight of him pleasuring her with his mouth between her legs sent her to a place she never knew existed. Passionately he continued to lick her, eyes wide with wonder at what his mouth was able to do to her body. 

She twisted and grabbed the bed to hold on as the pleasure welled up inside of her. He licked and sucked more and more as he watched her body move and felt the energy building inside it. 

As she allowed the pleasure he was able to give consumer her, part of Rey couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d always heard how awful first times were, especially when both were virgins. How men never knew what to do for you until you told them in no uncertain terms... how pleasing a woman’s body was like translating an ancient language no one spoke anymore... and if neither knew what to do how badly that always ended up...

But this wasn’t that. 

This was _incredible. ___

It was as if Ben knew exactly what her body wanted and needed and couldn’t wait to give it to her. She hoped when it was her turn, she’d be equally as skilled at pleasing him.

As his mouth brought her to the edge of her existence, they both felt her energy at it’s peak right before she exploded. As her orgasm began to shoot through her, Rey moaned and writhed with a pleasure neither had imagined possible. 

As she came down from it, she had to reach out and pull him up to her.

“Ben, I want-“

“No, not yet. I’m not done yet.” 

She let her head fall back in surrender at those words, knowing Ben wouldn’t be stopped until he was ready. 

Ben continued as he'd done before, and she felt her body continue to open. More and more she craved him inside of her as he continued licking, bringing her to closer and closer to another blissful climax like the first he'd delivered. 

Feeling her desire for more, and slowly slid a finger inside her, finding and pressing exactly where she needed him. Slowly he slid in and out, building pressure both inside and out. 

With that she came hard, arching her back as the ecstasy took control of her. 

He could sense she wanted him fully inside her, but Ben had a feeling that let him know it was better to not rush into a good thing. 

This was both their first time and he could sense how he needed to get her body ready for him- _all ___of him.

He knew once he had himself inside her he wouldn’t be able to hold back.

Determined to do all he could for her, he continued working her sensitive mound with his mouth and fingers, bringing her to another climax as tears streamed down her face. 

For a moment his own eyes glistened with moisture as the emotion of it threatened to overwhelm him. Rey in the throws of pleasure was the most breathtaking thing his eyes had ever seen... 

Finally, he sensed her body had opened just enough on his fingers that he knew she could take him.

He smiled as he reached up with his free hand to wipe tear from her cheeks.

“Ben... please... I can’t wait any longer, I NEED you.” She begged.

He gave her once last kiss and pulled himself up, taking her head is his hand and kissing the tears off her cheeks.

Ben removed his pants and the two were finally naked together. They had both imagined themselves with each other like this more times than they could remember, and now that it was here, it was more beautiful than anything their minds could have conjured up. 

Looking at Ben's body, Rey realized why he'd had taken so long to prepare her for him. When she saw him bring himself to her opening, she thought there was no way he would fit inside her. 

“Tell me if it’s too much, if you want me to stop.” He said, the words catching in his throat as he did his best to hold back from all the things he wanted to do to her. 

“Please Ben, I _need ___you inside me. I've needed it for _so long ___...”

Slowly he pushed himself inside her. Rey’s eyes widened and she laid her head back and felt the size of him come into her body. 

The most beautiful Moan Ben had ever heard fell from ehr lips as she felt herself open up for him even more. 

Having his cock inside her sent a surge of energy through Rey that left every part of her tingling. She knew she couldn’t wait any longer. She had to feel fully connected to him, as deeply as ther bodies would allow. 

Slowly she lifted her hips and slid herself down on him fully, letting out another loud moan out as she took all of him in. 

Ben caught his breath and held it, trying not to come immediately inside her.

For a moment they stared deeply into each others eyes, drinking in the sensation of all that coursed through them. Their bodies felt so whole, so complete, so _alive ___.

They could feel The Force racing through them as all of their senses were at their height. Without meaning to, their minds merged along with their bodies, and they could feel what the other what feeling. 

The warmth of Rey surrounding Ben, the fullness of Ben inside her... It was all so, so much, and yet still they craved _more ___.

Rey’s hips began rocking on Ben as he pushed in and out, giving her more and more of what he sensed her body needed. 

The Force continued to surge through and around them and the entire room seemed to electrify. In this moment they were lucky the room was as bare and plain as it was. Rey suddenly realized she didn’t feel the bed on her back anymore as Ben pushed into her...

They were levitating a foot above the beds, and the beds and blankets too were floating below them a foot off the ground. 

Had it not been the most physically intoxicating thing Rey had ever experienced, she might have worried about it. She’d never levitated outside of meditation before and didn’t understand how any of this was possible, but at the moment she wasn’t about to question it. 

Their bodies continued pushing each other to the limit. Sensing all she was feeling ben had quickly found that perfect spot inside her to make her come undone. 

He could have reached his peak at any moment just feeling her on him, but he wasn’t about to let that happen, not until he took her there with him. 

Their bodies continued pushing and grinding into one another, suspended in the force, in a seamless rhythm that brought both of them closer and closer to where they needed to be. 

Ben lifted her hips higher and drove harder into her, knowing she was about to fully lose herself on him.

Finally they reached their height of passion together, Ben on top of Rey wildly staring down into her soul...

His dark eyes and her amber eyes connected and shone brilliantly as they transformed into an emerald green.

Green? No, that couldn’t be right...

The throws of their powerful lovemaking on top of everything else were causing them to hallucinate...

At least, that’s what they each told themselves as Ben collapsed on top of her and they both fell into the comfort of the beds below. 

They lay there together for what felt like an eternity, feeling each other’s breath slowing, feeling the energy of their bodies glow together in perfect harmony. 

As the room came back into focus, Rey rolled over on top of Ben and brushed the hair out of his eyes. He was completely at peace as he gazed back at her. She stared into his eyes for some time... still not believing what she was seeing. 

Suddenly The same confusion spread across his face as well. He brushed her loose hairs away and took her face in his hands. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes, as if seeing them for the first time.

“Ben, your eyes… they’re…”

“Green?”

“How did you-“

“Because yours are too.”

For what felt like the millionth time that day Rey felt the weight of confusion take over her. 

“Ben what is happening to us? What does any of this mean?”

“I don’t know...” He swallowed hard as he realized how out of their depth they both suddenly felt.

They both took a moment to catch their breath before he continued.

“Nothing in either part of my training ever mentioned-“ He paused, searching his memory. “I remember visions of my Grandfather’s eyes turning yellow when he gave himself to the dark side. I think that was common for dark force users.”

“Yours never turned yellow, because-” 

“Because I never fully gave myself to the dark side." He paused again as he realized how true that was. "I told myself I wanted to, I told Snoke I did, but it was a lie. I couldn’t. There was always someone pulling me back. You, Rey. It’s always been you.”

He didn’t have to explain, she already understood. Neither of them could fully give themselves to either side of the Force if the other wasn’t ready to do the same. Deep down she’d always known but had tried to fight that truth until she fully understood it. Ben was the reason she’d never been able to become a true Jedi, and fully give herself to the light. 

“Whatever it means,” He continued “the Force is making it clear this is just the beginning.”

The thought made Rey want to lock the doors of the homestead and pull all the sands of the desert back over them so neither of them could ever leave. 

They’d fought their war. 

They’d defeated the Emperor. 

Everything the Force could throw at them they’d overcome. But now, this was just the _beginning? ___

She’d always known they’d had a shared destiny in the Force. She'd always dreamed of the day when they'd be ready to pursue it together, as they'd always been meant to be. However right now, after all they'd been through, after all it had taken just to get to where they were, she didn’t want to think about _anything ___beyond the small part of the galaxy they finally had to themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Green eyes? Levitation during sex? What does it mean? Where does one even find answers to those questions? Looks like these two have their work in the force cut out for them...
> 
> If anyone knows the artist who made the image in this chapter please let me know so I can credit them! It was shared without credit unfortunately. 
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	4. Being Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey talk about what they saw on the other side, and it's clear the Force still has big plans for them.

For as far back as the two of them could remember, waking up was excruciating. Every morning for Rey had been a reason to jump out of bed and make herself busy enough to silence the feeling that she was facing the world alone. Every morning for Ben’s former self had been powered by anxiety and fear that he’d never be enough. Now they were waking up in each other’s arms, and for the first time in their lives coming out of sleep into reality finally felt right. 

Rey snuggled into Ben, feeling his warmth surround her. She placed her hand on his chest and watched it rise and fall with each breath. She was overcome with gratitude for that breath. She didn’t know how it was possible that these lungs were filled with air and this person was right next to her for her to hold. She didn’t know how she’d have ever faced the world without that gift. Ben wasn’t ready to open his eyes yet, but he reached down half asleep and held Rey’s belly. He couldn’t keep his hands away from that miracle they’d created together.

They laid there in silence feeling the strength of their bond glowing around them. Neither had realized it until they came together on Exegol, but the reason why their lives had felt so chaotic and painful before wasn’t just their circumstances. It had been the unending din of a bond that was unbalanced and broken. Now that their bond was whole they couldn’t believe how peaceful just existing felt. 

“Ben?” Rey couldn’t wait any longer to ask the question that had been on her mind since he’d come back. She knew he’d likely ask the same in return, but she told herself she was prepared for that.

“Hmmm?”

“What did you see... when you were on the other side?” She felt him tense up a bit. He yawned and stretched trying to wake himself up.

“A lot of darkness and voices. I didn’t really understand it.” He’d known this question was coming, but hadn’t yet thought of how he’d explain it to Rey.

“What were they saying?” 

She could feel a conflict within him.

“They were women’s voices. They said I had to come back, to finish it.”

“Finish… what?”

“I… I don’t know.”

She took his hand in hers and kissed it, letting him know that he could trust her.

“Ben, you know you can tell me the truth. Figuring this out is the key to why we’re here.”

He knew she was right. She was always right. He just hadn’t been ready to tell her something he didn’t understand yet himself. He took a deep breath and continued.

“There were several of them. I don’t remember all of them. One of them was yours. One said I had to come back, like I promised. Another said I had to finish it this time, to make it right. Then yours, you said ‘We’ll do it together, like it was always meant to be’.” He stared at her, hoping she’d understand why he’d been afraid to tell her. He didn’t want to have to spell it out.

“Finish… what exactly?” She was afraid she understood his pause, but needed to hear it from him to be sure.

“It was too familiar. There were voices in my head as far back as I could remember. 'Finish what was started, fulfill your destiny in the Force.’ It was always Palpatine, posing as my grandfather or Snoke, trying to- to use me and my power to control the galaxy.” 

He paused again, coming to the part that was the hardest to explain. “I’d always known I had a destiny in the Force, and those voices told me they knew what it was. There was always something else too, stronger than those voices. Visions of you.”

The words began to pour from him like a damn that had finally burst. “They came to me before I ever knew who you were. I’ve always known you were my true destiny, that we were meant to be together. You were always my one truth before anything else. That’s why I killed Snoke. I knew he was lying when he called you my enemy. That’s why I begged you to join me, before I understood what was happening to me. I was blinded by the idea that my destiny was to finish what my grandfather started, and that we were supposed to do it together. To rule together.”

Rey could feel the pain in Ben as he explained it to her for the first time. 

“It made me so angry every time you rejected me. I didn’t understand why you didn’t see it too. I didn’t understand I’d been lied to, manipulated. I knew I had a destiny in the Force, and I had all these voices telling me what that destiny was supposed to be. I knew my destiny was meant to be with you, but you didn’t see any of it. It nearly drove me insane.” In addition to the pain she felt, Rey was filled with relief hearing him pour his emotions out like this. He was finally able to communicate the change she’d felt in him. 

“Then when you healed me on the Death Star, when told me you wanted to take my hand as Ben Solo, the collapse of all the lies I’d been living finally happened. Deep down I knew you were the only truth in my life. The only voice I ever needed to trust. I realized if Ben Solo was the man you were meant to be with, that was who I was meant to be. I realized the reason none of it made sense was everything the voices had been telling me to do was a lie.” He took a moment to collect his thoughts, trying to remember what point he’d been trying to make in the first place.

“When I came to you as my true self, when we came together, it finally all made sense. We were stronger than we’d ever been. We were able to defeat Palpatine. All the voices that had ever been in my head were finally silent. Then the Force showed me my next step, that I had to give you life to be reborn so we could finally be together. Leaving you to transform I thought it would finally all fall into place. I thought the Force would show me our true destiny. When I passed into, whatever it was, all I heard were voices telling me to ‘finish it’. Finish it, like “it” was something someone else had started. It was too familiar. I ran from it as fast as I could. I ran through so much darkness and space, down paths, past archways, and planets. It felt like I ran across the entire galaxy. I just ran until I finally felt your presence. I saw you waiting for me on Tatooine, and that’s when I knew I was where I was supposed to be. All that mattered was getting back to you. Seeing you waiting for me I felt myself being pulled through darkness and light, like a tunnel made of the two. The next thing I knew I found myself standing behind you watching the sun set.” 

He looked up at her, his green eyes pleading with her to make sense of it all. Rey didn’t know what to make of it, but she knew it was time to tell him what she saw too.

“Ben, I-“ now it was her turn to fight the urge inside her to hold back about things she didn’t understand.

“I heard voices too when I was on the other side. I’m not sure where to even begin.” He took her hand in his and kissed it, just as she’d done to him. The gesture was enough to tell her he was with her in all of it, whatever it was. Slowly she tried to make her words flow as well.

“The voices I heard on the other side were male. One told me ‘I will never fail you again, I know what I have to do’ Another said ‘We will finish it this time, together.’ The third was you, saying ‘I’m coming back for you sweetheart, I’m right here.” and then "Can you hear me? Hold on..." Then I felt you pull me back into life.” 

She paused again. Ben had been through so much and had just put it all beautifully and painfully into words for her. How was it she was the one having a hard time with this?

“It was all so overwhelming, we’d just defeated the Emperor together and yet something in me was still afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

She looked at him knowingly, begging him to see what she was struggling with that she barely understood herself. 

“I’ve always been the fearless one, the one who was always ready to do what was right, whatever that was. Coming back to you from death on Exegol, holding you, I finally have something to be afraid of.” Her eyes spilled tears down her cheeks. “Ben, the pain of being away from you, it’s too much. I can never, ever lose you again.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“No I mean it. If I lost you after all that we’ve been through, finally knowing what it’s like to be with you, like this, it would destroy me.” The words were finally able to flow. “When I saw the darkness in myself on the Death Star I hated her, I violently hated her. I wanted to crush her with everything I had. I didn’t understand it then but I do now. I realize after all that we’ve been through and how much I need you, that’s what I’ll become if it ever came to losing you again. If I ever lost you again, I’d be lost too. Completely lost.” Those last words felt heavier than anything she’d ever said. 

Thankfully for both of them nothing else needed to be said. 

Ben took her in his arms and they held each other in silence. The more they talked about it, nothing that had happened to them seemed to make any sense, and yet one thing was perfectly clear. All that mattered was that they were together. That was their true destiny as far as they cared. The Force seemed to be telling them it had some other grand destiny planned for them, but after all they’d been through they weren’t going to listen to it ever again if it threatened what they had right there in that moment.

Whatever they did from that point on, all that mattered was being together.

Artist Credit- Me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've wrapped our couple in blankets of fluff, now it's time for things to get interesting...
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	5. Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's changing form causes Ben to have a vision. Rey decides they should meditate on it. Of course, nothing ever goes how they think it will.
> 
> I want to give special thanks to Deborah Tan for her sketch “Be with me” of Rey and Ben meditating that inspired this chapter! 

Over a month had passed since arriving on Tatooine, and Rey was starting to feel the beginnings of nausea she’d been dreading. A lifetime of living off imperial rations had left her sensitive to a wide variety of food flavors, and pregnancy wasn’t helping. Part of her had hoped her new powers had meant immunity to such things but she soon realized she wasn’t that lucky. Though she’d spent her whole life working in a hot desert, being out in the heat of the sun with was no longer an option. After any amount of time outside she'd begin to feel sick, and Ben’s wasn’t about to let her push it. Luckily their combined technical skills and Force abilities had made it easy for just two people to get the moisture harvesters back up and running so they finally had a way to sustain themselves. 

Falling into a routine with Ben had been as natural as breathing. It felt as though they’d already lived as man and wife, and were just coming back to what they knew. Mornings were for meditating (which Ben was surprisingly terrible at), days were spent working on whatever needed to be done around the homestead, evenings were for translating texts, and every night was as full of passion as the first night they’d been together. Reading the texts together hadn’t been nearly as illuminating about their current condition as they'd hoped, but Rey wasn’t too worried about it just yet. Part of her had expected that. She’d already read most of the texts and had never seen anything about coming back from death and certainly never any mentions of all the other changes they’d noticed in themselves. 

If she was honest with herself, the very last thing she wanted right now was some immediate revelation about their “destiny” that pulled them away from the paradise they were creating together.

Like the start of most days, Rey found herself standing in the newly added doorway of the kitchen, breathing in the last cool air of the morning before she had to shut herself away from the heat of the day. After getting the moisture farm back up and running, they'd started making a few adjustments to the space make things more comfortable for a pregnant woman. One of the upgrades they'd seen to right away was making the kitchen and dining area were sealed off from the outside, so the spaces could be as comfortable and cool as the sleeping and utility areas through the heat of the day. 

As Ben watched her standing in the doorway, he noticed a small bump in her belly was already starting to show, which didn’t take much on her slender form. As he took in all the ways her body was changing before him, he could feel strength of his two daughters inside her. 

Daughters… they were girls! 

Two little girls to raise together as their very own... every bit as strong with the Force as their mother... 

Ben couldn't remember anything ever making him so happy. 

As the thought of their growing family washed over him he studied Rey intently. He wanted to take in every detail of this scene and remember it forever. Her divine, growing form highlighted by the morning light shining in around her, the energy of his children radiating from inside of her... 

Suddenly the light behind her went dark and filled with stars. The courtyard transformed into the skyline of a city below them with lines of ships passing in the night. Her belly grew much larger, and the Force around her went quiet. 

This wasn’t Rey, this was another woman, someone he’d never seen before... 

Then why did she feel so familiar? 

Something about the Force going quiet made him sad for her... like a part of her was missing. Perhaps he was so used to Rey and the power that surrounded her that it felt lonely to be around someone who didn’t have that as a part of them...

The Force was incredibly strong with his children though- his children? No, these weren’t his children inside her; he didn’t even know this woman or where she was. 

Suddenly she looked at him, noticing she'd been being watched. Seeing the way her husband was looking at her made her smile.

“Ben?” She said looking right at him. 

Wait, how did she know his name?

The stars faded and the city disappeared. The morning light shone back in around Rey. She was staring right at him.

“Ben? Can you hear me?”

Ben was totally mystified by the confusion of what had just happened.

“I, yeah- of course… sorry, were you saying something?”

“Are you ok?” Rey asked, a look of concern coming over her. 

Ben took a moment to shake himself back into reality.

“Yes, yeah, I'm fine, why?”

“You were smiling at me like you were thinking about something, then your face went blank and confused like… like you didn’t know who I was or where you were.”

That certainly made sense as he realized what she was saying.

“I- I think I just had a vision.” He finally said. 

“Oh?!” She asked, her confusion immediately shifting to excitement. "What was it about?"

As excited as Rey was to hear it, Ben was still trying to figure it out himself. Was it even a vision? He’d never truly had a vision that hadn’t somehow been about Rey, other than those years of false visions that had been planted by Palpatine. 

This was something else... 

“Ben... what was it you saw?” She asked again. 

He figured he’d better be honest. She always knew if he wasn’t telling her something.

“I was looking at you- you’re so beautiful this morning, the way your belly is just starting to show. I felt how strong our…”

“Daughters?” Rey finished his thought with a knowing smile, coming closer to him and looking down at her tiny bump. “Isn’t it wonderful?!”

“Yes!” The thought was divine. “Our girls!” Ben melted into the biggest smile just saying it. He couldn’t think of a phrase that had made him happier. He reached out and covered her tiny bump with his hand. “I can already feel how strong they are. I was watching you stand there, noting every detail so I’d always remember how you looked this morning. Then I saw someone else.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know who she was. She was pregnant with twins too.”

Rey looked intrigued. “Any guesses who she might be?”

“I have no idea. She didn’t have the Force like you. She was in a city somewhere. It felt like a long time ago. The vision wasn’t long enough to tell where it was. She was there, then she was gone and I was back with you.” He failed to mention the part where he thought of her children as his, or how familiar she felt to be around. That had to have been a mistake, since he’d just been thinking of Rey seconds before…

“Why would the Force show you a woman you don’t know?”

“No idea.” 

Rey leaned back for a moment, arching her back and massaging her belly. Ben could sense she was hurting.

“Are you ok?”

“It’s nothing.” She took a deep breath. “Just my body expanding really quickly to make room for two babies.” 

Two babies- what a miracle! Ben thought to himself. Naturally his first thoughts went to his mother and Luke. He had never known their mother. Now more than ever he wished he'd had. If she'd still been around to help Rey-

“Grandmother...” He said out loud, realizing who he’d just seen. “I think the woman in my vision was my grandmother.”

“Really?” Rey was shocked. She had expected Ben would know as much about his grandmother as she did her own, which was nothing. “How do you know?”

“She was also pregnant with twins, but one was a boy. I think it was-“ The words stuck in his throat, afraid to believe what he was about to say. “I think it was my grandfather sharing a memory with me.”

Rey knew how potentially significant this was for Ben. She couldn’t wait to dive right into what ever this was. 

“We should meditate on it, try and see if we can find out more about her. Maybe there’s something your grandfather wants us to know.”

Ben groaned. He hated meditating. He’d never been very good at it, but he did it to make Rey happy. He loved how at peace she felt while doing it. If it helped them learn more about a twin pregnancy, well, that was definitely something they could use to know more about. 

*****

Together hey climbed the stairs to the second story bedroom which they’d made their spot for meditating. It was totally empty except for the mats they’d laid out to sit on. Right away they sat down and prepared themselves for the task at hand. 

Rey breathed deeply, feeling all of her muscles let go as she centered herself and prepared to travel with Ben deep into their minds. Ben did the same, but as usual couldn’t help but notice every itch, cramp, and uncomfortable part of him. He shifted trying to get his long legs into a position that felt right. He smiled and tried to suppress a laugh at the thought of how ridiculously bad he was at this. 

Right away Rey sensed his discomfort. 

“Focus on the feeling of yourself relaxing." She said out loud, hoping to encourage him. "Imagine your body letting go, and allow your mind to will it to happen. Let go of any thoughts other than where we are right now. There’s nothing else in the universe but this space, this moment, just you and I.” 

As always her words were like a blanket of peace for his soul. 

Ben breathed deeply and shut his eyes, preparing himself to travel with her into the depths of their minds. 

After a few moments they'd entered each other’s minds through their bond, no longer needing to speak out loud. Rey led the meditation, as was always her role.

_Let go of all of the thoughts of the day. ___  


_Set them down and walk away from them as we approach our true purpose in this moment. ___  


_No one here but you and I. ___  


_Breathe. ___  


_Feel the coolness of the air as it comes into your body. ___  


_Feel its energy as it fills your lungs. ___  


_Feel the energy of your body as it connects with the Force around us. ___

Ben began to feel more grounded and at peace. 

_Take my hand in the Force as our minds continue to combine and become one. ___  


_Think of how you felt this morning. ___  


_Remember all the things you noticed about me standing in the morning light. ___  


_Share your thoughts with me as we make our way to our true purpose in this moment. ___

Now it was Ben’s turn, which always made him a little anxious. He heard Rey again, reassuring him.

_Trust your mind in this moment. ___  


_Let go of any anxiety that may be holding it back. ___  


_Any tension you may find, release it, set it down and let it melt away. ___

Ben did his best to let go of any tension he felt in his body. He still couldn’t help but feel nervousness for some reason. He decided just to picture her in the kitchen, perfect and beautiful with the morning light coming in behind her. He hoped that would be enough to do the rest. 

They both saw Rey standing in the kitchen. They felt the energy of their daughters beaming from within her. The memory had been enough. The morning light behind her faded to night and they saw the woman from Ben’s vision. This time she was clearer. Ben recognized the level of detail in her appearance as someone from a city. Her robe and the way she had done her hair both appeared to be a style from many decades ago. She was pregnant with twins who were strong with the Force, a boy and a girl. This was definitely Ben’s grandmother. She turned and smiled at him. 

Suddenly Ben felt a shift as something happened he didn’t anticipate. 

He began to have another vision, one of her in childbirth- suffering, dying, crying out for him but he wasn’t there to help her. He felt her energy draining from her body. There was nothing he could do to stop it. Fear and terror gripped him… the pain of losing her… nothing he could do… he’d never felt anything so painful… the dark side… there it was, creeping in and starting to control him again. It was too much. 

Ben's heart beat as though it wanted to escape his chest as every part of him screamed "RUN!". Ben turned and ran from the vision as fast as he could. 

Seeing everything Ben had just seen, Rey felt herself flying backward from it as Ben pulled them both out if it.

They opened their eyes and were back in their tiny room in the homestead. Ben's eyes were frantic as he stared blankly at the ground in front of him. He panted rapidly, as if he’d just run for several miles and couldn’t catch his breath. 

Right away Rey sensed the panic that gripped him. She quickly scooted herself over to his side and wrapped her arms around him to calm him. He immediately curled up into her.

“It’s ok." She said, holding him close as she did her best to comfort him. "I’m right here. You’re here with me. It was just a vision.”

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, burying his head in her chest, like he wasn’t ever going to let her slip away from him. They held each other in silence as Rey breathed deeply, helping him match her breathing and settle from his panic. After a few minutes Ben finally spoke.

“The dark side… it had me… I… never…” He could barely get the words out. “That is _never ___going to happen to you. I _won’t ___allow it.” He’d never thought about the danger of childbirth up until this moment and felt like an idiot for never having even considered it.

“Of course not.” She tried to think of how best to reassure him. The firmness in his voice made it clear just how much that experience had affected him. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this together, remember? We’ve conquered death. We’ve defeated the dark side. Sweetheart we have everything that we need.” 

He lifted his head and stared up at her with those same pleading eyes she’d seen their first morning together, after opening up to her about how the dark side had controlled him for so long. Her heart ached that she’d just led him into something that caused him so much pain. She took both of his hands in hers and kissed them as she did her best to reassure him again.

“Remember what I told you before? I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, with you, forever.” 

She finally felt his breath settle as calm came back over him. As he lifted his head again, the next thing he said was the last thing she’d expected.

“I really, _really ___hate meditating.”

She couldn’t help but laugh for a brief second before reassuring him.

“We don’t have to ever do it again unless you absolutely want to.”

Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He was very much over meditating. He wasn't going to attempt anything like that again for a very, very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First rule of destiny- the more you ignore it, the more determined it will become to never leave you alone. Hopefully the force takes a hint and gives these two a bit of a break. After all they've been through, they certainly deserve it!
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	6. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey reaches out to old friends to try and find answers to her questions. Of course, they have some questions she'd rather not answer herself.

As they ate breakfast together the next morning Rey couldn’t get her mind off the room Ben’s grandmother had been in during his vision. She’d never seen such a space. It was like something from a dream world, something that would only exist in fantasy, yet there it was with his real life grandmother standing in it. She tried to remember every detail; the huge glass table behind her, the intricate metallic detail on the walls, the plush floor... Every texture was foreign and strange, and the colors! She’d never seen so much color in one space! She didn’t want to ask Ben about what they’d seen together until he was ready to talk about it, but she couldn’t hold back one question that kept bugging her.

“Ben?”

“Yes?”

“When we saw your grandmother yesterday, I’m not going to ask you about it until you’re ready to talk about it, but I have a question about the space itself.”

“What’s that?”

“Everything was soft, even the floor, it was soft like a bed, fuzzy like the hide of an animal, was that common on their planet?”

Ben looked at her puzzled for a moment, confused what she was asking him. Without thinking he blurted out the word for what she was referring to.

“Carpet?!” He couldn’t understand how someone could be confused about the existence of carpet.

Unfazed, Rey responded “Oh! Is that what it’s called?” 

Ben’s heart sank as he realized what a privileged ass he sounded like in that moment. He knew everything about her life from the moment he began having visions of her as a child. All her years scavenging in the desert, the bombed out At-At she’d lived in most of her life, the resistance ships and bases during the war, and the simple desert outpost they lived in together were all she’d ever known. The only spaces she’d ever called home had been deigned for work or war. She’d never known comfort or luxury.

Ben considered his next words carefully, thinking of how to answer her question informatively without sounding like son of royalty who’d grown up around palaces and seen so much of the beauty the galaxy had to offer.

“Carpet, it’s a kind of flooring people put in their homes to make the space feel cozy and soft. Some buildings have it too. Formal spaces, not so much work spaces or military spaces.” Rey looked fascinated and puzzled. It made his heart ache to think she’d known such a hard existence. He swore to himself in that moment that someday he was going to take her to the most beautiful city he could find. He was going to do everything he could to show her all the wonder the galaxy had to offer, if and when it was ever safe for them to do so. 

After thinking about it a moment Rey laughed.

“Well it was beautiful, but also seems extremely impractical. How would you ever keep a fabric floor clean?”

“Well, maintenance droids clean it along with the rest of the house.”

“People have droids… just for cleaning flooring that’s hard to clean?”

Ben realized how ridiculous it must sound.

“I mean, you have to maintain the droids, but emptying the dirt out is a lot easier than doing all the cleaning yourself.” He smiled at his next thought “Chewie’s hair was always clogging them when I as a kid. Especially in the spring when he shed a lot.” The memory made him both happy and sad. It was a simpler time in his life, and yet nothing in his life had ever felt simple. Thinking of his family was another reminder his mother and uncle hadn’t contacted him yet. He wasn’t sure why. Of course he couldn’t bring himself to be the first to reach out after all that had happened. The thought of his mother’s face seeing him after all he’d done. Even though he’d had the strength to defeat death, he didn’t have the strength yet to face his mother’s grief over all the pain her son had caused her...

“Sounds like a waste of machinery.” Rey laughed, her musings about droids bringing Ben back to the present moment. She could sense the conversation was making Ben uncomfortable and figured she’d better change the subject. She had a lot of questions about everything she’d seen, but thankfully knew there were others she could share her questions with. Others with whom she had a lot of catching up to do...

*****

After breakfast Rey made sure Ben had a list of things to keep him busy down in the maintenance area while she headed up to the meditation room. As she climbed the stairs she felt nervousness and excitement rising in her chest at the thought of making contact with other human beings outside of their little world together. The past month had been the kind of paradise with Ben she’d always dreamed of, but naturally it was time to have social contact with someone other than her husband. 

Her husband- the word still made her smile from ear to ear. She’d always been so alone in the world and suddenly found herself living the kind of dream life she never thought she’d have. Not just a husband but also the new lives to look forward to that she felt growing inside her. Indeed, she had a lot of catching up to do.

She sat on the mat and centered herself, feeling the thoughts of the day fall away from her, feeling her body let go of any tension she’d been holding, feeling her mind center and her breath deepen as she connected with the world of the force inside her mind. Meditation had once taken so much thought and preparation, now it was as natural as waking up or falling asleep. 

Her mind centered on finding them. She felt their presence in the Force, could feel them coming closer. They would have so much to talk about besides all her questions about what she’d seen.

“Rey!” Leia wrapped her arms around her in the biggest hug. Rey held her tight, suddenly feeling how much she’d missed her. So much had happened since she’d last seen her.

“We were wondering when you’d come find us.” Luke smiled as he joined in the hug. The warmth and love of having her mentors back with her, it was exactly what Rey needed. 

Leia stepped back and looked at Rey’s form, glowing with the Force from the life growing inside her.

“Well? Let’s hear it! You clearly have something to tell us since we last saw you!” 

Rey beamed. She couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

“Girls! Two of them! Can you believe it?!”

“TWO girls huh?” Luke laughed. “Ben is in for it now.”

The three of them laughed, soaking in the happiness of the moment. They had all been through so much and finally had so much joy to share with each other. It almost didn’t feel real. 

“I guess that pair of pretty eyes worked out for you after all, huh?” Luke was never one to let a moment pass.

“Oh Rey, you did it! You did what none of us could do! You brought my son back from the dark side. I’ve never felt him so happy, so at peace.” Leia’s eyes filled with tears of joy at the thought of Ben living a life of love. 

“The Force certainly works in mysterious ways.” Luke continued, marveling at the beautiful irony of their happy ending. All of them were right back in the place he’d tried to get as far away from as he could. “My nephew, the mighty Ben Solo, living the life of a moisture farmer and the father of twin daughters. Who’d have ever thought!” 

“But Rey how did you do it? How did you bring my Ben back after he left you on Exegol?” 

Rey still didn’t have any of those answers, and if anything had more questions than the day he arrived. 

“We’re… still trying to figure that out.” 

Luke reassured her. “I’m sure the Force will tell you all you need to know, whenever it feels like getting around to it of course. It has a way of doing that.” He continued. “I feel there’s more to why you reached out to us today though than just happy news. How has everything been going since we last saw you?”

Rey didn’t know where to begin. She had a million questions for them and now that they were here she could barely get the words out. She figured she’d better start at the beginning.

“I guess I’d better start with Exegol.” She tried to think of a way to explain what had happened, in the least awkward way possible, which of course was impossible. “So um, this happy news, it didn’t happen in the… traditional way. I mean not that that hasn’t happened, but, oh no, I mean-” What was she saying? Was she really leading a conversation with her mentors by discussing her sex life with their Son and nephew?! Rey wanted to disappear. 

“Well this should be interesting!” Leia had known this conversation was coming since the first time she felt Rey’s bond with her Son. Rey laughed nervously and continued.

“When Ben saved me, he gave me his life force, and this miraculously happened at the same time.”

Leia didn’t miss a beat. “Well that takes all the fun out of it! Poor girl!” Rey was speechless as Luke side eyed his sister and burst out laughing. Leia was going to have way too much fun with this, at Rey’s expense of course. 

“It’s about as much as Ben deserves if we’re honest.” Leia continued. “A pregnant wife before he even got to enjoy the bliss of newlywed life. Oh, Han would get a kick out of that.” She continued, not caring one bit how awkward she made anyone else feel. “You know I was knocked up as soon as Han and I were married. Probably before if I’m being honest. Han made sure of that.”

“Leia, really?!” Luke was over this conversation before it began.

“What?” Luke knew not to try and stop his sister when she was in her element, and giving zero fucks was certainly her element. “It’s no secret Ben’s father was a stud. Not that I minded one bit of course. You could get pregnant just looking at the man. Apparently Ben has done just that with our poor Rey. Like father like son, what can I say?” She continued, looking right at Rey. “Just lock him out when you need sleep. That’s what I always did. You’re getting bigger and bigger and think they won’t be into it but somehow they just want more. They’re like animals, can’t keep their hands off you. It’s like they need a constant reminder of what a great job they did. It’s fantastic the first several months, especially when the pregnancy hormones kick in, whew!” Leia threw her hands up in the air and Rey had never wanted to die so much. “But at some point you’ll start feeling huge and need all the rest you can get. Don’t be afraid to take care of yourself. You’ll need it once the little ones get here. Now, what was it you wanted to ask us again?”

Rey was thankful Leia finally appeared to be done as well as amazed she hadn’t died of embarrassment. Facing Palpatine had been nothing compared to having your mentor and mother-in-law wax on about the joys of sex during pregnancy. 

“Um, where was I, oh right, Exegol.” Rey took a deep breath, and continued. “Ben brought me back by giving me his life force, and in the process, well, we covered that. Next thing I know I’m pregnant and he disappears.”

“Typical.” Leia couldn’t help herself, she was having too much fun with this. “I’m sorry Rey, continue.”

“Well you two saw me when I came here and buried your sabers. Soon after you left he reappeared behind me as I was watching the suns set.”

“Just appeared? Like fully alive, that easily?” Luke sensed something more was up.

“He seemed changed, like he’d been transformed in the Force into something new, stronger than he'd ever been. When I asked what he saw on the other side though he said he heard voices that reminded him of, well, of all the times he was controlled by the dark side.” Rey made sure to leave out that she was part of those voices. She wasn’t sure yet how to explain that part. “Of course he ran from them. He said he ran and ran through the Force and across the galaxy until he felt my presence and found me on Tatooine. He said he was pulled through a tunnel of light and dark and the next thing he knew he was here with me.”

Luke and Leia took a moment to consider all she’d told them. 

“So, what you’re telling us is my son left you pregnant with twins, cheated death, and got back to you as fast as he could.” Leia shrugged her shoulders. “Sounds like a smart man to me.” She smiled. “In all seriousness though there’s clearly something much deeper going on than any of us are able to understand at this moment. Perhaps both of your sacrifices, you sacrificing yourself for the galaxy and Ben sacrificing himself for you, did something in the Force that has never been seen before.” Of course, why hadn’t Rey thought of that yet? “Has anything else happened since you two arrived here?”

“Well he’s gained new powers in the Force, and I started noticing changes in myself right away as well. Ben spotted it first. The first night here he noticed my scar on my arm had disappeared” Rey tried not to blush thinking about the circumstances “I looked and all of my other scars had disappeared as well. Then our eyes turned green, at the same time.”

Luke and Leia leaned forward staring into her eyes as if checking to make sure. 

“Holy shit” 

“You weren’t kidding” They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Luke continued, trying to figure out what could have caused it. “What were you doing when they turned green? Was there anything that appeared to summon the Force or cause it to happen? There had to have been a trigger or something to-” Rey turned bright red and stared at the floor “Ok, we get it.”

Leia howled with laughter. “Well if that isn’t a story for the grandkids!” Rey couldn’t believe this was happening. 

“Ok Leia that’s enough, Rey looks like she’s ready to kick us out.” Luke was done hearing about how everyone else in this family was getting laid. “Was there anything else that’s happened, anything you actually feel like sharing” he side eyed his sister, “visions or dreams, things seen while meditating that may lead us to figuring this out?”

“Yes!” Finally the part she actually wanted to talk about. “It’s about your father. Ben thinks he’s tried to contact him, to share memories with him.”

The two of them stared back at her in shock. Leia was the first to speak.

“Rey, are you absolutely sure?”

“He had a vision. It was of your mother when she was pregnant with you. He could feel your presence in the Force inside of her. He thinks your father is trying to tell us something.”

“Rey that can’t be.” Luke finally spoke up.

“Why? Why wouldn’t he?” Rey was confused, why didn’t they believe her? 

Luke took a deep breath and continued. “Because our father hasn’t been seen or heard of anywhere in the Force since before you were born.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that certainly explains the lack of Anakin's force ghost in the sequel trilogy. If it isn't Anakin reaching out to Ben, who could it be?
> 
> On a personal note, the anniversary of our beloved Space Mom’s death yesterday had me missing her spirit like hell. It inspired me to write a chapter with some sassy Leia in it. Hope everyone enjoyed it! ❤️
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	7. Old Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey continues looking to Luke and Leia for the answers she seeks. It turns out they need Rey just as much as she needs them.

Ben quickly got to work on all he had to do in the maintenance area. He’d been working on fixing up a speeder that could take them into town. He tried not to think about all that had happened over the past few days. The visions of family he’d never known, the feeling of the dark side trying to creep back in and take him. He’d barely slept the night before, afraid the dark side might try to creep back in when his guard was down. 

He could feel Rey meditating a few rooms away and felt a sense of relief that he didn’t have to do that today. He loved sensing the peace it brought her when they meditated together, but it had always been a challenge for him. After all that had happened the day before, he welcomed a break. 

The surprise of feeling two other beings entering her meditation caught him off guard. Rey had contacted his mother and uncle and they’d come to see her. 

Of course they had. 

They hadn’t yet come to see their son and nephew who they hadn’t spoken a calm word to in years, who’d defeated death and broken himself free of the dark side, but the second Rey called on them they were there. She was the child they’d always wanted as opposed to the one they’d been given. And who could blame them? Ben couldn’t help but hope their daughters took after their mother instead of…

Been shook the unhealthy thoughts from his head as quickly as they had entered his mind. Thoughts like that weren’t helpful or fair in any way, least of all to him. The ability to control his thoughts was a new one. He wasn’t sure if it was from his transformation in the Force or a skill he gained from Rey, but it felt like the greatest power he had ever had. Before he’d always been controlled by his thoughts. He’d been prisoner of his own mind like a leaf caught in a storm. Every doubt and fear he’d ever had would plant itself in his mind and fester until it consumed him. After his transformation and uniting with Rey he was suddenly able to defend himself from the suffering that came from thoughts that didn’t serve him. 

He couldn’t help but think it had to be because of Rey. Her mind had always felt so controlled, so organized and at peace. She was able to focus on exactly what she wanted to and let go of all the things that didn’t serve her. It was one of the first things that had drawn him to her- a mind so in control of itself. It felt like a missing half to a two piece puzzle which he’d been the other half of. When he found Rey he found someone who could make sense of a world he’d been utterly lost in. 

Ben could feel the joy of the reunion taking place a few rooms away. He couldn’t help but smile thinking of Rey telling his mother about her soon to be grandchildren. Those were the kinds of thoughts he needed to hold onto. Though he wasn’t yet ready to reach out to his family and wasn’t sure when he’d ever be, he was thankful he had Rey as a bridge between them. 

He made sure to savor the joy coming from the three of them. Even if he couldn’t be a part of that yet, he could still feel and be a part of the happiness that came from it. He let that happiness drive him as he set to working on the speeder. He couldn’t wait to see the excitement on Rey’s face once he got it running.

*****

Rey stared back in shock at Leia and Luke, totally confused and trying to make sense of what they’d just told her.

“Your saying your father hasn’t been seen or heard from in decades? Not anywhere? But why would that be?” 

Luke paused, considering his next words carefully.

“Our father was… a complicated man.”

“I would imagine.” Rey couldn’t help it. The issues within this family seemed to multiply the more she learned about it. She’d always wanted a family and now that she had one she couldn’t believe how a group of people could make loving each other so complicated. 

Luke continued. “The truth is he only appeared to me a handful of times following his death. I wanted to believe he was at peace after defeating the Emperor and coming back to the light, but it was clear he wasn’t. It felt like he was trying to get somewhere he didn’t know yet how to find. Like he was trying to fix something. He was always so happy to see Leia and me, but it wasn’t enough. I feared he was consumed with guilt for all he’d done, feeling he’d abandoned his children with no way to get back to them. I could sense he was especially protective of Leia. I think she reminded him of our mother. Whatever the reason, he stopped appearing to me around the time Leia and Han got married.”

“Why would a marriage make him stop appearing?” Yet another revelation Rey couldn’t understand. They certainly had a way of piling up. 

“Perhaps he thought she was finally happy, finally taken care of? Not that she needed protecting.” He laughed as he looked at Leia. “If anything Han was the one who needed protecting! Especially when you got pregnant right away.” He looked back at Rey. “Oh you should have seen her. Princess, general, war hero, and now mother to be. She was a force to be reckoned with.” His laughter faded to a smile as he remembered those happy days. Leia was beaming, not about to contradict one word of what Luke had said. 

Rey had another thought.

“Did your mother ever try to contact you?”

The thought appeared to be a sad one for both of them.

Luke continued. “We never knew our mother, but we do know she never had the Force. She was royalty, a senator, and ‘the most beautiful woman that ever existed’ according to the one time my father spoke to me about her. That was one of the few things he shared with me right before disappearing.”

“So you two were never able to see her in the Force?”

Leia was quick to answer this one. “No, we talked about that a lot. We sometimes felt her presence as if she was there watching over us. I especially felt her presence during my pregnancy. She was there the whole time through pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood. Ben’s birth was incredibly difficult. I’ll spare you the details until you’re ready to hear them. I think the only thing that got me through it was feeling her strength surrounding me. It was so comforting. She was there a lot through the early days with him as well. Those feelings of her presence though, they eventually stopped as well.” Rey could see Leia’s eyes were filled with grief. Even though she’d never physically known her mother, no longer feeling her mother’s presence had been a loss for her.

Leia centered her thoughts and continued, as though the next words were harder to say. “They stopped around the time I sent Ben to train with Luke. The only thing I could figure out was she had come to me to protect me as a mother. Perhaps she felt she needed to since she’d died in childbirth and never got to be a mother to us herself. When I sent Ben away, I suppose she no longer saw me that way, as needing her.” Leia took another deep breath as her eyes watered. “Later after everything that happened, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d stopped sensing her when I’d sent him away. It felt like she was telling me I’d failed as a mother.”

The thought broke Rey’s heart. On top of all Leia had been through, to feel like she’d failed a mother she’d never really even known…

“Have you found her, or felt her presence again since crossing over?” Rey felt she already knew the answer to that one, but still had to ask.

“No.” Leia continued, “Neither Luke or I have ever been able to find her.”

That final revelation was even more heartbreaking to Rey. Why would parents abandon their children with no apparent reason? Surely there was something that could explain it, but what?

Sensing there wasn’t much more to be learned from this conversation, Rey got the courage up to ask the one thing that had been on her heart and mind for some time. 

“I just have one more question.” Rey took a deep breath. “Why haven’t you two come to see Ben yet?”

They looked at each other with a heaviness that was hard to understand, one that was utterly different than the one they’d just been feeling about their own parents.

Leia again was the first to speak, this time her voice had gone quiet as if she was embarrased to admit what she was about to say. 

“We didn’t think he would want to see us yet.” She barely got the words out.

Luke continued for her. “We thought it would be better to wait and let him to reach out when he was ready to see us. We wanted to give him the chance to decide that for himself.”

Rey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She considered the people in front of her to be the wisest people she’d ever met, and yet they couldn’t connect the dots between their own feelings of abandonment from their parents and what their son and nephew was going through now? It was more than Rey could handle. 

“You’re waiting… until _Ben ___is ready to approach _you ___?!” Her raised voice stunned Luke and Leia. They stared back dumbfounded, unsure what to say. Rey continued. “After all that has happened, after all that he’s been through? As far back as he can remember he’s had voices in his head, twisting his thoughts, controlling his mind, manipulating him to do things he never wanted to do. The people who were supposed to protect him, his own family, all he ever sensed from you, as far back as his earliest memories, was that you were all afraid of him!” Rey didn’t know where she was finding the words but they began to spill forth beyond her control. “The people who were supposed to protect him and be there for him and make the world a safer place for him, when he needed you the most you sent him away!” Her rage was at it’s peak as she continued. “Then one time any of you thought to check in on him, to see how he was doing after finally noticing he was struggling, Luke, you nearly killed him in his sleep! Honestly what did you expect him to do? It’s a wonder he resisted the dark side as long as he did!”

Rey felt an energy surging through her as she stood up for Ben to her mentors. On the one hand she knew they meant well and thought they were doing what was right, but she couldn’t believe how completely they had misunderstood the man that she loved. How could a family who had so much love to give each other fall so far and misunderstand each other so much? Nothing they had ever done for him had been what he needed, and it was finally time for someone to tell them that. Her next words came forth like she’d been waiting years to say them.

“I was there when he killed Han.” 

It was the last thing Luke or Leia had expected her to say. If she’d shocked them before, they were now lost as to who the woman standing in front of them had become. This was a side of Rey neither of them knew, and a side of her they couldn’t help but respect. 

“The act broke him.” She continued, “I mean thoroughly broke him. Watching his father walk towards him on the bridge, his soul was as conflicted as it could possibly be. He couldn’t even take a step forward himself, like was frozen on the spot. It was the last thing he truly wanted to do and yet every dark thing infecting in his mind was telling him he had to break free of his past, to eliminate anything holding him back from his destiny. Snoke had twisted Ben so much he truly believed it was a duty he owed to himself to kill his own father. Can you imagine the amount of pain a person has to go through to be pushed to that point? I doubt it. The only reason I can is because I felt all of that pain within him in that moment, pushing him to do the last thing he wanted to do. It was as if he thought if he just did this one horrible thing, the pain would stop and he’d be free to become whatever it was he was meant to be. So he did it.” She paused as tears spilled from her eyes. “Han had just begged him to come home, Ben had even given him his light saber like he was ready to come home, but he hadn’t let go yet. He couldn’t. The dark side had too much of him in its grasp. He ignited his saber and” she took a moment to get the next words out “It went right through Han.” 

Rey stopped, unable to continue. She sobbed and sat down, holding her head in her hands. Luke and Leia sat across from her in stunned silence. After a moment she looked up and continued. “I wanted to hate Ben in that moment. I knew I should hate him, but all of the hate within me screaming as loud as it could was met by something else- all of the pain of his soul screaming at what he’d just done, trying to hold himself together, to keep going. He thought that would be the end of it, the answer to all of his pain, and it only made the pain a thousand times worse.” 

The three of them sat in silence, processing all of what had just been said. Finally Rey spoke up one last time, her voice calm as her anger subsided.

“Ben went through the worst the Force could possibly put him through. Because of it he was pushed to do monstrous things. Yet you both think after all of that, with all that he went through and the shame of what he’s done, that he will miraculously have the strength to come back and face you? Absolutely not.” She took a deep breath, continuing to calm herself and considering her next words carefully. “This is not Ben’s time to be the strong one in this family. This is your time to be there for your son and nephew who’s needed you his entire life and who you were never able to be there for like he needed. This is your time to make it right.” 

After a few moments Leia burst into tears. Rey looked up, stunned and shaken from her anger at the thought that she’d just brought the woman she respected more than anyone she’d ever met to tears. 

“Rey you’re right, you’re so right.” Leia felt an odd sense of relief as she cried and began to mourn all that her son had been through. She felt the weight and confusion of the past thirty years beginning to lift as she finally saw a way to reconnect with her beautiful boy she’d lost so many years ago. “I don’t know why we never saw it before. I always felt like everything I did for him was wrong. The more I tried to lead him in the right direction, the more he fought and resisted, and the more powerless I felt. That’s why I sent him away. I thought I was the last thing he needed.” She sobbed. “What he needed was a mother, not a mentor. Oh Rey, you’re so right! I should have gone to him, to tell him he was perfect and beautiful in every way, that he was everything I’d ever wanted in a son, and told him we’d face it together what ever it was that was hurting him so much. How…” She grasped for the words “Rey, how can I ever make this right?”

They were the words Rey had waited to hear for what felt like forever, and she knew exactly what her answer would be.

“Go to him. Tell him everything you just told me. It’s never too late to make it right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, writing this one got me crying. Expect the next chapter to be an all out feels fest.
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	8. A Mother’s Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben is met by a visitor he's both waited for and wasn't sure how he'd ever face.

Ben’s head turned as he looked in the direction of the room where Rey was meditating. He’d felt something shifting as their conversation went from joy to sadness, then a sudden a surge of anger. Rey was consumed with anger. He couldn’t imagine what they could have done to make her so infuriated, but he was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of it. He tried to distract himself with his work, not wanting to feel like he was listening in, but her energy was so strong and loud in the Force that it was impossible for him to not feel it. Her rage grew, then just as suddenly sadness and grief took her. He couldn’t believe the pain running through her as he felt her break down. He wanted to go to her, to hold her and tell her whatever it was would be ok, but by that point he had a sinking feeling that whatever they were talking about involved him. 

It had to be about him. Who else had ever caused this family so much pain? His heart continued to sink as he stood feeling the sadness flowing through the three of them, sadness that he knew he was in some way responsible for. He had a pretty good idea what it was they were talking about. 

Ben had to get out of there. Going outside meant walking right past the space where she was with his mother and uncle, but he had to do it. He couldn’t take anymore of this.

As he entered the hallway he could feel the strength of Rey’s resolve from the other side of the wall. He quickly ran up the steps and out the domed entrance into the heat of the baking desert suns. The only shade to be found was in the shadow of Luke’s x wing. He sat down in the sand, arms on his knees and head in his hands as tears fell through his fingers onto the sand below. A grown man who’d defeated death and all the evil this galaxy could muster was sobbing like a child over hearing his family fight about him. This definitely wasn’t the first time he’d found himself hiding from a family who’d been fighting about him, but it had been well over a decade since he last found himself in this position. He and Rey had come here to get away from everything the galaxy had put them through, and here he was feeling like the same scared little boy right back where he started.

“Ben?” It was Rey standing in front of him. “Ben what’s wrong? What are you doing out here?” She’d felt him run past her just as she’d finished her conversation with Luke and Leia.

It was clear she’d also been crying. Her face was red and tear streaked as she squinted in the sun. He got to his feet quickly, brushing himself off.

“I felt all of it. I don’t know what was said, but I know you were talking with them and it had to be about me. It’s ok, I’m not mad. It was just a lot. I had to get out of there.”

He wished with all that he had that the universe would just leave them alone. Everything was so perfect when it was just the two of them, but anytime anything else came into their little world together-

“Ben there’s someone who wants to see you.” She looked up at him and shielded her eyes from the suns to gauge his reaction. He knew exactly who she meant. Ben’s lower lip shook as he looked off towards the horizon. It was all he’d wanted and yet now that it was here he knew he’d never be ready.

“Now?” He barely got the word out.

“Yes Ben, now.” Rey’s voice shook as she tried to hold herself together for him. “She’s inside. She’s waited a very long time for this. Ben, she has so much she wants to say to you.”

“I’m sure she does.” Ben choked back tears, he couldn’t imagine what his mother wanted to say to him, but he couldn’t imagine any of it would be good.

“Ben, your mother loves you. She needs you. She’s always needed you. Please just come hear what she has to say.” He couldn’t imagine what she needed from him after all that had happened, but deep down he knew there was a part of him that needed her too. Whatever it was she was going to say to him, it was time to face it.

He wiped his eyes fiercely, took Rey’s hands in his, and nodded towards the homestead, letting her know he was ready. 

*****

Leia stood in the dining room alone, gripping the back of a chair with all her strength as if to steady herself. She had never felt such a whirlwind of emotions like the storm that was gripping her. Fear, excitement, anxiety, joy, anticipation, nervousness, so many things were swirling inside of her that she felt she might be blown away at any moment. 

She felt him coming closer as Rey led him inside. That feeling was more familiar than anything she’d ever known. The presence that had grown inside her for nine months, the angelic little bundle she’d fed at her breast and rocked to sleep, the wild little boy she’d chased after for so many years as he grew bigger and stronger beyond her control, but this wasn’t a child. This was a grown man making his way toward her. The same grown man she’d felt fly past her through space and pull his hand off the trigger as another fighter took a shot that made her world explode. So much was different within him than the conflicted soul she’d felt that day. So much was at peace, and yet the last parts of a storm still raged inside him as he came closer and closer. Now they were in the courtyard, so close…

Rey opened the door and came inside. 

“He’s here Leia. He’s ready to see you.” Leia felt every part of her wanting to burst as she did her best to hold herself together. Tears were already welling up in her eyes, there was no fighting that. She’d imagined this moment so many times. How she’d go to him, tell him everything would be ok, hold his face in her hands and tell him how much she loved and forgave him. She could feel all of that melting away as pure emotion gripped her.

“Let him in.”

Rey opened the door and stepped back to let him in. A grown man stepped in, a man with the face of a child she’d missed every hour of every day for longer than she could remember.

The sight of him standing before her was too much for her to contain herself. 

“OH… my BABY!” Leia wailed. She flew forward and threw her arms around his huge form, sobbing into his chest. When did he grow so tall? She couldn’t believe the size of the man she now had wrapped in her arms... 

She looked up into two stunned eyes staring down at her. He hadn’t known what to expect, but it clearly wasn’t this. His mouth trembled and he started to shake as he looked down at her.

The emotion of the moment overcame Ben. He collapsed in the grip she had around him. He fell to his knees, hands hitting the floor, shoulders shaking as sobs wracked his body. His head hung low and he couldn’t catch his breath. She placed her hands on his back, rubbing his shoulders, feeling the sobs surge through him. He reached up and wrapped his arms tight around her waist, leaning into her. 

The words came out between sobs. “I’m sorry, mom, everything I, I’m so, so sorry!” He could barely speak as his chest heaved with the heavy sorrow of all that he’d done. 

Leia closed her eyes for a second, putting her hands on his head and feeling that dark soft hair she’d missed so much. She steadied her emotions and did her best to contain herself and be strong for her son. He needed a mother right now, not a puddle of emotion.

“Ben” She felt her throat catch, just saying his name with him here felt so, so good. Oh how was she going to say all that she needed to say? She continued to brush her fingers through his hair and said the only thing she could think to say in that moment.

“Ben, I’m here, I’m right here baby. I’ve always been here. I’m always going to be here. Ben, you are my whole world.” Tears streamed down her face.

“Momma’” He chocked between words as the tears spilled forth “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, everything that I’ve done, I can’t, I never” Sobs wracked his huge shoulders as he held her close, no longer able to speak.

“Shhhh, baby, it’s ok” She could have fallen apart seeing him in so much pain, but she didn’t dare. He needed her to be strong for him in this moment. She did her best to calm him, finding strength within her she didn’t know she had. “It’s ok sweetheart, It’s all going to be ok.” 

She took a deep breath and knelt down to be on his level. She took his face in her hands as more tears fell from her eyes. He tried catching his breath, holding on to her wrists, his mouth shaking and eyes full of tears as he stared back at her. In that moment he saw the only thing he’d ever really needed, his mother’s eyes beaming with her immense, powerful love for him. 

“Ben, you have nothing to apologize for sweetheart.” His eyes shut tightly as more tears fell and his head dropped. His body was again shaking with sobs that he’d been holding back for years. She let him cry for a few moments before continuing. 

“Oh my Ben, my perfect, sweet, beautiful boy.” She lifted his chin and brushed the hair out of his face as she wiped tears from his cheeks. “I’m the one who should be saying I’m sorry.” The sound of her words caught in her throat again as her voice shook. Ben couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“But mom, I failed you so much, the horrible things I-“

“No, Ben, listen to me.” She finally found the words. “You could never, ever fail me. From the first moment I saw you, when the nurse droid handed you to me and I held you in my arms, you always have been and always will be everything I’ve ever wanted in a son. There’s nothing you could ever do that could change that.”

He stared back in disbelief, unable to process what she’d just said. He’d expected so much anger, rage, even hate for all the things he’d done, but this? How could she love a son that had fallen so far? He leaned back and stared at her in confusion, tears still streaming down his face. 

“Sweetheart, listen to me.” She leaned forward and looked deep into his eyes. “I failed you.” She steadied herself and continued. “We all failed you. Me, your father, your uncle. You were a child that needed a family. What you got were a bunch of soldiers who’d fought so long and so hard against the terrible world they’d been given that they forgot how to love.” Ben’s eyes went soft and his breathing slowed as tried to understand what she was saying to him.

“Ben, all the horrible things you faced, we should have been there for you, to fight them along side you, to help you understand them and get through all that the world was throwing at you. Instead we thought we could just give you the skills to fight them yourself and everything would be fine, as if handing a child a light saber and leaving you to it would fix everything. Oh honey, we were so, so wrong.” She closed her eyes and failed to hold back tears. “I felt the demons that were coming after you in your thoughts, and they terrified me. They utterly terrified me. How could anything so horrible be coming for my baby? And me, powerless to protect you. All the wars I’d fought, I’d never felt fear like that. I’d always been strong enough to fight whatever came my way. Yet here I was facing an enemy I couldn’t begin to understand and felt powerless to stop coming after the one thing I loved most in this world.” 

At this point Ben was sitting back, staring at her in wonder, as if he couldn’t comprehend the miracle that was taking place in front of him.

“Ben I was so afraid for you, so afraid.”

Afraid for him, not of him? Ben couldn’t make sense of it.

“The last thing I wanted in the world was my baby in the hands of the dark side, yet there I was feeling those hands take hold of you.” She took a deep breath as she continued. “I’d seen it when I was pregnant with you, when I was training as a Jedi. I had visions that the dark side would come and take my son from me. That’s why I stopped training. I could never, ever allow that to happen. Yet there I found myself years later, and the thing I’d feared most was happening right before my eyes. For the first time in my life I felt I was up against an enemy that I didn’t know how to defeat. Ben, that’s why I sent you away. I didn’t think I was strong enough to help you fight what you were up against.”

Ben was sitting back against the wall completely still, eyes wide in shock. These were the last things he’d expected his mother to say.

“Luke had always been the hero that fought monsters and defeated them. All I knew were politics and war. Those were the only things I was ever any good at, the only things I had any power to change. I needed someone to save you from your demons. I thought Luke was the only one who could do that. Oh Ben, I was so, so wrong!” 

Her voice shook as more tears fell. “I completely failed you as a mother. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me most. I never should have sent you away! I sent you right into the hands of the horrors I was trying to save you from! Everything that happened, none of it would have ever happened if I’d just been a mother to you like you needed me to be. Oh Ben, how will you ever be able to forgive me?” 

Leia began to cry again as she held her face in her hands. Ben sat frozen as he watched her, transfixed by the sight of his mother begging him for forgiveness. He had prepared himself for so much, and this was everything other than what he’d imagined. 

Rey felt something dawn in him, something warm, like a fire that had been waiting to be lit. He reached his hand out to his mother, placing it on her back. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her as she cried. He buried his face in her hair as his shoulders began to shake. He was crying with her. 

“Mom, I- of course I forgive you, Mom, please, don’t cry, Mom, I love you so much.”

Leia looked up, eyes wide with wonder. 

“Oh, my sweet boy.” She threw her arms around her son again, holding him in the tightest hug she could as they cried together. 

Rey watched the scene in amazement. The two people she cared about most in the universe were finally reconciled after so many years of unimaginable pain. She felt her face soaking wet with tears she hadn’t even felt falling. 

Ben leaned back for a second, afraid to ask what still weighed heavy on his heart. “But, I don’t understand.” He stared at the floor and fought hard to get out what he said next. “How can you forgive me?” He was shaking with the thought. “How can you even look me, after everything that I’ve done, after all I’ve put you through?” His pleading eyes looked back up at his mother, begging her to help him understand.

Leia’s presence in the force beamed with love for her son as she spoke, placing a hand on his cheek. “Soon, you will understand. When you hold those little girls in your arms for the first time and look at their beautiful faces smiling up at you, you’ll know there’s nothing they could ever do to lose your love.” 

Ben’s face broke out in the biggest smile as he collapsed into more tears. Leia wasn’t done yet though. 

“It’s not just me that forgives you honey.” Ben looked up and stared at her wide eyed, swallowing hard. He knew he’d never be ready for what she was about to say, and yet here it came. “I’ve seen your father many times since I crossed over.” Ben broke down again in his mother’s arms as Leia choked back tears. “He wants you to know he loves you so much honey, so much…” Leia held her boy tight as he sobbed into her. “…he’s so sorry he wasn’t strong enough to bring you home.” 

Ben lost it. He felt the pain of his father’s loss pouring out of him with every word his mother spoke. He never thought in a million years his father would want to see or speak to him again, let alone tell him that he loved him and forgave him? And had even asked for his forgiveness? It was too much. Sobs coursed through Ben as he curled up into his mother, finally able to grieve the father he’d taken from this world. Leia rocked her boy and held him tight as she let him cry through his grief. 

Rey felt she should leave them and let them have some time alone. She tried to slip out as Leia looked back at her.

“Where are you going?!” Her voice boomed.

“I just, wanted to let you-” 

“Get over here!” 

Rey walked over and sat beside them as Leia pulled her in. 

Ben continued to sob as both women held him, surrounding him in love and being with him as he felt the surges of grief and pain he’d buried deep inside of him for the past year. Though he’d been transformed and reborn in the force, nothing could have saved him from what he was going through in this moment. It was something he had to face and work through himself. Luckily for Ben he had the two strongest women in his life there for him as he went through it. 

After feeling what felt like hours of grief pouring through him, eventually his sobs began to subside. Rey and Leia rubbed his back as he caught his breath and came back to them from the clutches of his grief. 

“Take as long as you need sweetheart.” Rey reassured him, “We’re here for you.” After sitting silently together for a bit he finally lifted his head and spoke up.

“I don’t deserve either of you.” He finally said, his voice still shaking. 

“Well sweetheart, you’re stuck with us either way.” Leia smiled. 

After all that he’d just been through, Leia knew just what to say to make her son smile again.


	9. Skywalkers and Sunsets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Leia talk lightsabers as old wounds are healed.

The warmth and comfort of his mother and wife’s arms eventually lulled Ben into a deep sleep. Leia and Rey sat holding him as he slept for what felt like most of the day. Rey noticed Leia glowing with the force as love for her son surged through her. Leia couldn’t think of a more perfect place in the universe than where she found herself. She ran her fingers through his thick hair, watching his shoulders rise and fall with each breath, remembering all the times she’d done the same with a much smaller boy who’d actually fit in her lap. She studied all of his features , noting how each had become stronger and more defined. She still couldn’t believe how handsome he was. He reminded her so much of Han... 

A memory came back to her of a time Han had fallen asleep in her lap in the middle of her pregnancy. Like most days it had been a long one for both of them and they’d collapsed on the couch together after dinner. As usual Ben had been kicking up a storm inside of her. Han laid down with his head in her lap, talking to his son while touching her belly and feeling the strength of their son inside her. Leia had been lost in thought, dreaming of all the adventures they would have together. Eventually she’d realized the kicking had stopped and Han had fallen asleep. It was one of her happiest memories of their early years together. 

“Mom?” Ben had finally woken up.

“Yes Ben?” 

“You never failed me as a mother. I don’t want you to feel like that’s what happened.” 

Suddenly it was Leia’s turn to not understand what she was hearing. How could her son say that? After all that happened? How she couldn’t stop the demons that had come for him? How she was never able to bring him back? She’d raised an entire army and fought all across the galaxy to defeat the forces that had taken her son and still hadn’t been able to save him...

“Ben, I-“

“No mom, I meant it.” He had sat up and was looking right at her. “You were what kept me from going straight to the dark as a child. You and- dad too.” 

Leia looked at her son and realized perhaps for the first time just how much he’d grown since she’d last seen him. Not just physically, though she couldn’t believe how much he towered over her when he sat up straight. The person sitting in front of her wasn’t the troubled boy she’d tried to hold on to and save from the forces of the dark side for so many years. The person in front of her was a grown man. A man with his own thoughts and beliefs, and man about to start his own family, a man with his own takes on the world, one of which she couldn’t quite understand at the moment. 

“But Ben, we did fail you. We weren’t there for you when-“

“No mom, you were there for me. You did all you could for me. You just didn’t understand what you were up against.”

Leia was at a loss for words as her son continued.

“I didn’t know what I was up against and I was the one going through it. You never could have known all that was coming for me. The Force-“ He paused for a second, trying to find words to describe something that was so much bigger than anything any of them in that room could comprehend. “This family, we’re the most powerful Force users in a generation. Yet there’s more about the Force that we don’t know than what we do know. I don’t even know why my eyes are this color.” 

Leia remembered she hadn’t taken a good look at his eyes yet. They’d been so full of tears before.

“Let me see.” He looked down at her as she placed both hands on each side of his face, staring deep into his eyes. 

“Oh Ben, they’re… beautiful!” She couldn’t believe how brilliantly green they were. They’d been such dark eyes his whole life. He was one of the few babies she’d ever seen that had dark eyes right after being born. Now they were shining like emeralds. Looking into them felt like staring into the Force itself. 

“It has taken some getting used to.” Rey smiled.

“For both of us.” Ben smiled and continued. “All I know mom is if not for you and dad, I’d have been lost much sooner to the dark side. Every time I went somewhere dark as a kid you were there to pull me back. Even when it got-“ He remembered his later childhood years, the outbursts, the fights, droids always cleaning up whatever thing he’d just smashed through the Force in anger. “When it got to be too much, you were still there for me, fighting for me. I could feel it.”

“I just, I never should have sent you away.” Leia hung her head as she said the words. 

Then Ben did something that truly surprised her. He put his arm around his mother and kissed the top of her head, saying

“Sending me away was the best you knew how to do. It couldn’t have been easy. I can see that now.” 

Leia wasn’t sure what had changed in the person that sat next to her- the same person who’d once flipped every piece of furniture in the house with his mind upon hearing he was going away to his uncle’s training academy- but she wasn’t going to question it.

Rey felt another presence enter the room.

“I told you I’d see you around kid.” Luke had felt a calm in the family’s presence together and figured it was a good time to join the reunion.

Ben stood straight up hearing his uncle enter the room. 

“Yeeeaaah, I um…” Ben stammered to find the words as he stared at the floor.

Luke stared at Leia and Rey as if to say “Well… I’m… here?”

 _Typical ___, Rey thought. Before her stood two of the most powerful men who’ve ever lived, and yet they were terrified of saying 5 words to each other.

“Ben, why don’t you show him what you’ve been working on down in the hanger?” 

“Oh yeah, yeah, that would um, that would be great.” Ben took a deep breath, thankful to have something else to focus on other than the fact that the last two times he and his uncle had met, it certainly hadn’t ended well. 

“I’ll stay up here with Leia and get started on something to eat.”

_Rey no. ___

She couldn’t believe how quickly Ben was in her mind.

_You and Luke have a lot to talk about, your mother and I will just get in the way. ___

_But Rey I- ___

_Trust me Ben, you two need time alone together, to fix what’s come before. There’s nothing your mother or I can do to save you from that. ___

_Uggggghhhhhh fine. ___

He knew somehow Rey was right. She was always right, especially about things Ben didn’t want to do. 

“Luke, I’ll um, I’ll let you lead the way.” 

“Sure!” They went to exit the door. “Oh I can’t wait to see if any of my old stuff is still laying around!” 

Behind him Ben stared up at the ceiling. 

_Of course Rey. Of course all of his old stuff is around. ___

_Ben, just go! It will be fine! ___She tried her best not to laugh at his stubbornness.

After the two had left the room Leia turned to Rey and they both broke into laughter. 

“Were they always like this?” 

“Oh, much worse! Luke never knew how to deal with children, especially small children. Ever since Ben could understand words Luke was always trying to pass on some ancient wisdom the poor kid was in no way ready to hear yet. Of course Ben resisted every step of the way, even when he was old enough to understand.” Leia smiled at the memories of their earlier years together, refusing to let anything else get in the way of that. 

Rey set to preparing dinner as she and Leia caught up more on all that had been going on for them at the homestead. Rey couldn’t wait to tell her how she’d surprised Ben with the set of Kyber crystals Luke had given her on Ahch To, crystals Luke had found on his journeys through the galaxy searching for old temples. 

“We started working on new lightsabers to train with! I can’t wait to show you what I’m working on! Mine will be a double bladed staff saber and Ben is working on a traditional design.”

“A double bladed saber? How does that work?” Leia had never seen such a thing.

“Yes…” Rey quickly remembered she didn’t want to share where she’d first seen the idea, the dark side vision of herself on the Death Star.

“It will be long, like my staff, with the hilt in the middle and blades coming out either end. The hilt will be constructed with parts of my staff. It’s more like what I’ve always known. I’m much better with my staff than I’ve ever been with a traditional saber. I figured why not combine the two and make something I’m actually good with?”

“Makes sense.” Leia admired her ingenuity. “A true warrior always knows her strengths and weaknesses. Always go with what you’re good at and no one will be able to use your weaknesses against you.”

Rey felt a deep sense of home as they mused on about sabres and Jedi training together. Even though life alone with Ben was heavenly, she had missed her talks with Leia so much. 

Once dinner was ready Rey waited a bit, then set out to find Ben and Luke. She felt hopeful their conversation had been a positive one. She’d kept a small part of her mind open and receptive for feelings of Ben, not so much to be invasive of their privacy, but just enough to be aware in case things didn’t go well. Thankfully she hadn’t felt any negative emotion coming from anywhere in the homestead. Still, knowing the past they’d shared she couldn’t help but be a tiny bit anxious. 

Rey went to enter the maintenance hanger and quickly realized she didn’t feel Ben’s presence. She went in to check anyway, finding it totally empty. 

She went inside her mind to try to locate him, and felt him on the sands above her. 

_Outside? What were they doing up there? ___

She flew up the steps and out of the dome into the openness of the desert. Her heart exploded with joy as she was met with a sight that told her everything had gone just fine.

Ben and Luke, lost in conversation, taking in the twin sunset together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the intensity of the last few chapters I felt our characters deserved a bit of a break. Hope you enjoyed this one! I want to thank everyone who's made it this far with me and been so supportive of my first fanfic adventure. I've got a lot planned for the next few phases of our heroes journey! :)
> 
> Leia's memory of Han was inspired by one of my own pregnancy memories. One of my favorite photos of my husband, where he fell asleep on my lap with my baby bump. It inspired Reylo artist Wendy Colon to draw a version of Ben asleep with Rey's pregnant belly. I thought I'd share since it fit the chapter so well. ❤️
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	10. We Got Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben try to settle back into their routine. Like always, the universe has other plans.

Rey leaned back in the shade of Luke’s x wing, one hand in the sand behind her and one massaging the cramp in her rapidly expanding belly. The two little girls inside of her were growing at a rate that made her look much further along than she was. Two months had passed since Ben’s reconciliation with his family, and they had settled back into their blissful routine. Ben had finally got the speeder up and running and was test-driving it. Rey wanted to be flying across the sands with him more than anything, but he wasn’t about to let his pregnant wife on a machine that he hadn’t made sure ran properly yet.

As he disappeared on the horizon Rey jumped into his mind.

_Don’t go too far. I don’t like when I can’t see you. ___

_Sweetheart it’s fine, I’m just seeing what it can do. We need to make sure it’s ready for whatever we throw at it. ___

_You know what I mean. I don’t want anyone seeing you. ___

_Who’s going to see us out here? We’ve been here over three months and the only person we’ve seen is the woman you saw your first day here. ___

He had a point. The isolation they’d craved was certainly working out for them. Still, Rey didn’t want any surprises. 

As soon as she had the thought, the surprise she’d been dreading flew over.

The unmistakable sound of an X-wing ripped towards her, piercing the sky and with it Rey’s sense of calm. Before she had a moment to process it, it circled around and landed about 20 feet away. Rey jumped up and was inside the door way, hand on her lightsaber, ready for anything and bewildered by the thought that someone had found them. The sounds of two familiar voices and excited beeps made her step back out into the desert sun. 

“Rey!” Poe had leapt out of the cockpit and was walking towards her. He stopped in his tracks, clearly shocked by her round belly. He then smiled and pointed at her, looking back at Finn.

“I knew it! I KNEW it! I so called it! What did I tell you buddy?!” 

Finn had his hands on his hips, staring up at the sky, annoyed. 

“Come on now, you know the deal!” Poe had his hand out to Finn. Finn pulled out his wallet and slapped several credits in Poe’s hand, clearly having lost a bet.

“EXCUSE ME?!” Rey couldn’t believe their audacity.

BB8 blew past both of them, rolling up to Rey and letting out a flurry of excited beeps at her glowing appearance. The little droid was the only one she was glad to see at the moment. 

“Oh come on, Rey" Poe caught up with his droid. "What were we supposed to think? The Jedi hero of the Resistance wins the war then suddenly disappears without a trace? Not even a goodbye note? Couldn’t even tell us where you were going? We get it, stuff happens during wars, but you couldn’t have made it more obvious.”

Rey was speechless, hating having to admit to herself on some level he was right.

Finn was barely able to make eye contact with her. 

Poe on the other hand wasn't anywhere near done. “Let’s hear it! Who’s the lucky guy? Old boyfriend from Jakuu? Clearly not anyone we know or we’d have guessed it by now.”

Rey heard the speeder flying towards them as the feeling of Ben's rage became unmistakable. He’d definitely heard the X-wing.

_Ben, NO. Stay away. I’ll handle th- ___

_No, I am NOT letting them take you. ___

_You have to hide! Please don’t do this! ___

It was too late. Poe and Finn had heard the speeder and had turned around, looking in its direction. BB8 beeped inquisitively. 

“Oh, this must be him now!” Poe was practically giddy. “Perfect timing! I can’t wait to meet him!”

This was happening and there was nothing Rey could do to stop it.

As the speeder flew past them Ben back flipped off of it, landing between Rey and her friends as he ignited his lightsaber. The end of it's purple beam was a few inches from Poe’s face as the anger in his eyes burned hotter than the twin suns above the,.

“You two. You need to leave. _NOW. ___” Ben wasn’t about to trust the men he’d seen on the other side with Rey for the past year.

“Jedi boyfriend, huh? Rey, you are a dark horse.” Poe looked back at Ben. “Nice to meet you too, man. Rey, you really know how to pick ‘em.”

Finn's expression had fallen totally blank. He looked at Ben, then back at Rey, then down at her belly, then back at Ben again. Finally he found his voice.

“SERIOUSLY Rey?!” They were the first words he’d said to her in months. With that he threw his arms up, turned and stormed off into the desert, unable to process what he’d just seen. 

“Finn! Come back!” Rey couldn’t believe this was happening.

Poe squinted in the sun, taking in Ben’s features as he recognized the familiar face in front of him. Suddenly his eyes went wide as if he'd seen a ghost.

“Holy shit… you’re....” He couldn't finish that sentence. His face looked like he thought he was hallucinating. He stepped back in shock. “I thought you died?”

“Got it now Poe?! You finally put it together that we haven’t exactly got the whole story here?!” Finn was furious, and with Poe’s realization he came storming back towards them.

“Wait-” Poe turned back to Finn. “Did you know about this?! How long has this been going on?!”

“Great question!” Finn was back next to Poe. “Why don’t you tell us Rey?! How long HAS this been going on? Since before Crait? On Starkiller?”

“Starkiller?!” Poe couldn’t make sense of it. Ben still had his lightsaber drawn, which didn't make processing what he was seeing any easier. 

BB8 sat frozen in confusion at the volatile human interactions happening around him. Rey knew she had to say something.

She stepped around Ben, gently pushing his arm down and with it his weapon. 

_Rey we can’t- ___

_Let me handle this. ___

Ben hesitated, but respected her wish for the moment.

Rey took a deep breath. “Guys, this is Ben.”

“Oh Ben? We’re calling him Ben now?! That’s adorable!” Finn was fuming. 

“Wait, did _Leia ___know about this?!” Poe asked, his voice suddenly much more serious as he put it all together.

“Don’t you DARE ask about my mother!” Ben had the lightsaber drawn again. 

Rey could feel control of the situation slipping away. 

“Just tell us the truth.” Finn continued, never once making eye contact with Ben. “How long were you lying to us? To the Resistance? To yourself? Let me guess, while we were off risking our lives on missions where we needed you, you were back doing dark magic with your First Order boyfriend. Studying the Jedi texts, huh? I’m sure you were doing a lot of studying!” He was just getting started. “No wonder you were never around until we absolutely needed you! No really, how long has this been going on?” He gestured towards her belly. “By the looks of it, it’s not that recent!”

That was it for Ben. She was shocked how unnervingly calm his next words were.

“We should kill them and leave them in the desert. Make it look like an accident.”

In seconds Poe had his blaster drawn and aimed at Ben. He’d finally come to terms with who he was staring at and wasn’t about to take any chances. 

“Leave us in the desert? Like an accident?! Oh the IRONY!” Finn was storming off again. Rey knew she had lost control of the three of them.

“Ok that is ENOUGH!” She waved her hand towards Finn and Poe while looking at Ben, feeling a surge in the Force. Suddenly her friends were both frozen, not just physically but also mentally.

Ben stared in shock at what she’d done, stunned at the power his wife possessed.

“…did you mean to do that?”

Rey was instantly checking on them. They were still breathing and appeared to be totally fine, just paused in the Force, not hearing or reacting to anything happening around them.

“Of course I didn’t! But now that they’re, well… it certainly helps!” Somehow she knew she could undo whatever she’d just done, but she wasn’t about to do so until she got Ben to calm down. 

She wracked her brain for a second, trying to figure out how she was going to get these three men, who’d spent the past year trying to kill each other, to a place where they could work together. 

“I’m going to need you to go inside while I explain everything to them. I have to make them understand-“

“NOT happening.” The look in his eyes told her he’d resurrect the First Order and destroy every Resistance fighter in the galaxy before he ever left her alone with two people he didn’t know or trust. 

“Ben, these are my friends! I would trust them with my life!”

“Would you?! Would you Rey?” He couldn’t believe she didn’t understand his anger, or his fear. “That’s great! But would you trust them with my life? With both of our lives?!” He stepped forward and his eyes fell as he gently touched her belly, his voice getting softer and quieter. “Would you trust them with our daughter’s lives? Because this isn’t just about you or me anymore.” He paused again to collect his thoughts. “The world took me away from my family once already. I’m not letting anyone take me away from my family ever again.”

Rey felt like an idiot as he said the words. Even though they were her best friends, they were also men who’d fought against Ben during the war that had kept him away from her. She had to make him see that their only option was to trust people he’d once considered enemies.

“I see your point, Ben, really I do. If it were just a matter of getting them to leave and never bother us again I’d manipulate their minds to make them do just that. But we’ve got much bigger problems here than my Resistance friends standing on our doorstep. We need to figure out how they found us. Once we figure that out, we’re going to need their help. We _have ___to make sure no one else ever finds us the same way they did.”

There it was, Rey and her voice of reason making Ben confront truths he didn’t want to acknowledge. These men who’d fought against him and kept him from the woman he loved, he needed them now to protect them and their future together. Trusting them was their only option, his only option. 

After a few moments he turned off his lightsaber. 

“What do you need me to do?” He finally asked.

She wrapped her arms around him in a hug that let him know it would all be ok. 

“Go inside and wait for me. I promise I’ll explain everything to them and make them understand. Once they understand they can trust you they'll see that we’re all on the same side.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Rey just wants some time to be pregnant and relax. Will the men in her life ever give her a moments peace?
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	11. Who Talks First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey does her best to convince her friends to trust them, and finds herself needing Ben's help.

Once Ben had disappeared inside the domed entrance, Rey prepared herself to wake her friends back up. Her stomach was a churning ball of anxiety. All of her secrets over the past year had suddenly been flung out into the open, leaving her with with zero time to prepare herself for how to explain things to her friends. Her brain was a whirlwind of thoughts as she tried to think of what she should tell them.

“The truth...” She told herself. “Just tell them the truth and everything will be ok. Surely they will have to see...”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waving her hands over them and willing them back to their true selves. 

As their muscles and minds unfroze, they shook themselves from their frozen stupor.

“Hey… wait, whoa! What just happened? Where’s…?” Poe still had his blaster drawn, aimed at no one. 

“I had to freeze you two for a second, to calm things down. Things were really getting out of hand.” 

“You… what?” Finn rubbed his head trying understand what she was saying, still a little drowsy from waking up.

“I sent Ben inside so I could explain things to you. He understands you’re my friends and he trusts you.” That was a lie, she told herself, but a necessary lie at the moment. “It’s time for me to tell you the truth of everything that’s been happening over the past year.”

“The truth would be nice.” The shock of being frozen seemed to have calmed Finn down a bit, at least for now. 

“The truth is, Ben Solo and Kylo Ren aren’t the same person.”

“Oh?” Finn stopped her. “I got a pretty good look at him on Star Killer. I don’t think I’d forget that face.” 

“No, I mean, Kylo Ren wasn’t Ben as his true self. He never wanted to be that person he was on the dark side. He never wanted any of that to happen.” 

“I'm guessing he told you this?” Poe wasn’t buying it. “Sounds pretty convenient I have to say.”

“Come on Rey, you’re smarter than this-” 

“No you guys I mean it, please listen to me.” She tried to find the words to make them understand something she was still having trouble understanding herself. “There are parts of the Force we’re only just beginning to understand. One of these things is that the Emperor has been using the dark side to manipulate and control Ben his entire life. As far back as he can remember, dark forces and voices came into his head, twisting his thoughts, infecting his mind, and making him do things he never wanted to do.”

“So you’re telling me the Force can make people do things they don’t want to do? Make them become someone they don't want to be? That doesn’t make any sense. ” Poe still wasn’t convinced.

Without saying a word Rey walked over to Finn and waved her hand in front of him.

“You will take three steps backwards, turn around, take three more steps backwards, and turn around again.” 

Poe’s eyes widened with shock as Finn did exactly as she commanded. When Finn was standing back where he began, he looked back up at them without missing a beat.

“Yeah, I gotta agree with Poe, that does sound a little far fetched- Poe, why are you looking at me like that?” The irony wasn’t lost on Poe.

Before Poe knew what was happening Rey had waved her hand in his direction, saying

“You will turn around, take ten steps forward, throw your blaster as far as you can into the desert, turn back around, and take ten more steps back to where you started.”

Poe did exactly as she commanded. Finn watched with a look that made it clear his whole world had just been thrown into question. 

When Poe got back to his starting point he immediately noticed the look on Finn’s face.

“No, wait, you didn’t, Rey…”

“Have you always been able to do that?” Finn found himself even more confused about his friend he thought he’d known so well. 

“I realized I had that power on Starkiller and used it on Stormtroopers to escape, but I swear I’ve never used it unless I absolutely had to.”

“So you’ve never done that to us before… just now?” Poe was also starting to question everything he knew.

“Yes, I swear I’ve never done that to either of you before. I just had to show you what Ben has been up against his whole life. If I could make you do that just now with the flick of a hand, imagine what someone as powerful as the Emperor could do over _years ___. Ben has had the Emporer coming from him since as far back as he could remember, we stil don't have any idea how far back it goes.”

“I don’t know Rey.” Finn still wasn’t convinced. “This all sounds like a very good excuse-“

“Excuse?” Rey felt herself getting frustrated. “Of anyone, _you ___know _exactly ___what it’s like to be thrown into something you never wanted to be a part of long before you’re old enough to know what’s happened to you. You were taken from your family as a baby, thrown into the First Order like a pawn without a second thought. Ben was also taken from his family at a young age, but his fight against evil wasn’t a physical one. His captivity was in his mind, against forces he couldn’t begin to understand. If I can make two grown men march around with just a wave of my hand, imagine what someone like Palpatine can do to an infant. Imagine someone that powerful infecting the mind of a defenseless child with no understanding of the Force or what’s happening to them. That’s been Ben’s entire life. All he’s ever known was the struggle between his true self and Palpatine trying to control him and use him for his power.”

Finn and Poe sat in silence for a moment, trying to put together what she was saying.

“So let me get this straight” Poe was the first to speak up. “The Ben we just met, the one with the lightsaber in my face, that’s the real Ben? And Kylo Ren, the guy we’ve seen marching around in dark capes thinking he owned the galaxy, that was Ben being controlled by Palpatine?”

“Yes, that’s a very basic version of it.” Rey was hopeful they were starting to understand.

Finn and Poe looked at each other for a second, gauging each other’s reaction. Neither was still totally convinced. Finn turned and looked at Rey again, nodding at her belly.

“So how do you explain that?”

Rey suddenly felt the dizziness of nausea coming on, realizing how long they’d been outside. “Actually, speaking of this...” She rubbed her bump. “I’d love to stay out here and explain everything else that’s happened but… I’m starting to feel a little nauseous from this heat. I need to get inside. Can you two promise to stay calm if I bring you in?” Her eyes begged them to cooperate. She wanted to explain everything that had happened but needed to get somewhere more comfortable. “I promise I’ll explain everything once we get inside.” 

“Of course Rey.” As concerned as he was about who else was inside, Poe wasn’t going to keep a pregnant woman out in the desert heat. “Let’s get momma to be inside.”

*****

As Rey walked down the hallway entrance she sensed Ben was in the maintenance hanger working on something. HE always went there to work on things when his mind felt overwhelmed. It was all she needed to know where he was with everything. 

Because of that she hoped he'd gave them a little more time alone before they saw him again.

_Ben, we’re coming inside so we could get out of the heat. I need you to wait before you see them again. I still have so much to tell them. ___

_Are you ok? ___Ben could sense she wasn’t feeling well. _What happened out there? ___

_It’s fine, I'm fine. It's just nausea from the heat. I’m bringing them in and I’ll take them to the dining area to talk. ___

_I’ll give you a second to get in there but I’m coming to check on you. ___

She knew there was no arguing it with him. The more she grew, the more protective he was of her. 

_Ok... you can come check on me but you have to promise to stay calm. There’s still so much I need to tell them to make them understand. You know how important this is. ___

_Ok... I promise. ___

_One more thing- don’t bring your light saber. They left their weapons outside and things will go smoother if you do the same. ___

She didn’t mention she’d used the force to make Poe toss his blaster away, but she needed these men to trust each other and she was going to use whatever tools she could to make that happen. 

_I’ll leave it in the hanger. ___

It made Rey nervous that he was coming in before she’d explained everything to her friends, but at this point she didn’t see that she had any other choice. 

Once inside the dining area, she told Poe and Finn to sit down. 

A few seconds later Ben came in. As he did she could feel her friends instantly tense up. The small space they were in combined with his impressive height didn't make him any less intimidating.

“You need to sit down too.” Rey said firmly.

Thankfully he did as she asked, without saying a word. 

The three men sat in awkward silence for a few moments, with looks that could cut Kyber crystals.

As usual Poe was the first to speak, looking towards Ben.

“So, who talks first? I talk first? You talk first?” 

Ben glared at him silently.

“Poe, what are you on about?” 

“Sorry, Rey- just an inside joke between friends.”

She got the feeling the two had met before, and it didn’t need to be said that it hadn’t been under good circumstances. She figured she’d better get the conversation going before things got anymore tense, but where to start?

“So where were we…”

“Well it would be helpful to know how long…” Finn paused, thinking of how to ask his question delicately. “...exactly how far along are you?”

Ben side eyed Finn then stared back at Rey. It was clear he was going to hate every minute of this. 

Suddenly Rey had the realization that her appearance may be what was setting her friends off so much. Two babies growing inside her made it look like she was a lot farther along than she actually was.

If they thought she was several months along, and had already been pregnant during their entire final mission together... that definitely would have made things much, much worse.

“This happened right after we defeated Palpatine, three months ago. It looks like I’m a lot further along because I’m carrying twins.”

“Ah, the Skywalker tradition.” At least Poe still had his sense of humor. 

Rey continued. “It wasn’t something we intended. When we faced Palpatine together-“

“Together?” 

“Right…” Telling this story was going to be a lot harder than Rey thought. “I better start back at the very beginning. Otherwise none of this is going to make any sense.”

“We’re all ears.” The look in Finn’s tired eyes told her he wanted her to make sense of it more than anything. Her friend wanted to believe in her again, and he desperately needed her to give him a miracle to make it all ok. 

Rey started back as early as she could remember. She recalled the visions she had of Ben as a child, how they’d both shared visions of their combined destiny since as far back as they could remember. She explained their first meeting on Takodana and how Ben had had to interrogate her on Starkiller, what a shock it had been to both of them to feel that connection they'd dreamed of to someone on the opposite side of the war. She explained the shock and slow realization that they shared a Force bond, the way the Force kept throwing them in front of each other through their bond, Rey’s visions in the cave on on Ahch To, and even the moment they touched hands. She explained how she’d seen the light in Ben, how Luke had disagreed and tried to stop her, how she’d gone with her gut and gone to him on the Supremacy- aas well as all that had happened when he killed his master.

“Oh you that did that?” Poe was looking at Ben as he said it. “Nice work, man.” 

Ben looked at Poe confused for a second, then looked back at Rey. He had no clue what to make of the jokester he found sitting with him at his dinner table. 

Rey sensed at the very least her friends were doing their best to keep an open mind, and for that she was deeply grateful.

Poe’s comical peace offering gave her the confidence she needed to keep telling their story. She went on to explain how their bond had continued between them, how destiny made it clear they were meant to be in it together but something kept trapping Ben on the dark side, her nightmares of ruling together trapped on the dark side with him. She went through all of the tension and rage that led up to their final fight on the Death Star, and how after mortally wounding him she’d healed Ben, knowing his part in their story wasn’t over yet. 

Suddenly it dawned on her- perhaps having Ben in the room wasn’t such a bad thing after all. She got the courage up to turn to him and ask the last thing he’d expected her to say. 

“Would you like to tell what happened next?”

He stared back at her in silence, jumping into her mind. 

_You can’t be serious. Why would they want to hear any of this from me? ___

_Your turn back to the light is your story to tell. They need to hear it from you. Trust me on this. Once they see who you really are, everything will finally make sense to them. ___

Opening up about one of the most emotionally trying times in his life was the last thing he wanted to do with two people he’d just considered murdering an hour ago, but somehow he sensed she was right. 

Rey sat down next to him and took his hand. 

“Go on Ben, you can do this. Tell them what happened next.”

_Rey, I don’t think I can- ___

_I know you can do it. Remember, this is for us, for our girls, for our future together. They need to see who you really are so they can help us. ___

A look of vulnerability came over him as he looked across the table at the two men waiting to hear what he had to say. 

“After she stabbed me and healed me, I’d told her I hadn’t wanted it to be this way, that all I’d ever wanted was for her to join me, for us to be together. She told me she had wanted to take my hand, but Ben Solo’s hand. That’s when it all started to make sense. I’d been hearing two different versions in my head of what my destiny was supposed to be my entire life. Only one of them was true. Her truth.”

He paused trying to find the words to explain it. “I felt like I’d been fighting a war inside myself my entire life with the voices twisting my thoughts toward the dark side. Every time I resisted them they only got louder, more painful. I lost my family because of it. I woke up to my uncle trying to murder me after he sensed what was coming for me. After that I gave in. I hoped I could finally silence what it had been putting me through. I became Kylo Ren and for years I did everything it told me to do, thinking once I achieved what I was supposed to the pain would finally end. It only got worse. It made me do horrible things. Horrible, unspeakable things.” 

He paused again and looked back at Rey. The love in her eyes was all he needed to keep going. “The one thing that kept me going through all of it was the one thing that felt right. Visions I had of us together. They were the only thing that brought me peace. I’d always seen this girl, this woman I was supposed to be with. Above everything else we were meant to be together. When I found Rey on Takodana I knew who she was. That’s when the real war in my head started- the truth that she represented against the dark forces that had controlled me for so long. The more I fought to hold onto that truth, the harder the dark side fought to keep me. Part of me sensed that, and started to fight back against everything that had controlled me for so long. By the time Rey healed me I was at my breaking point. When she told me Ben Solo was who she was meant to be with, all of the dark forces inside me were finally defeated.”

He chose to leave out all that had happened with his father. He wasn’t ready yet to open up about that to complete strangers. “I knew what I had to do, to join Rey and defeat the dark side once and for all. She left me on the Death Star broken and defeated, but I gathered my strength back and went to find her. I knew she was going to Exegol to fight the Emperor and I had to help her. I fought and killed all my knights of Ren who were there waiting for me. When I got to Rey, we were finally united as we were meant to be. When we fought together, we were stronger than either of us had ever been on our own. Palpatine sensed that and-“ he suddenly came to the part that was hardest to explain. 

“Take your time, just tell them what you remember.”

“He knocked me down a cliff. While I was fighting my way back up to get to her Rey summoned all the Jedi who’d ever lived and together they defeated the Emperor. When I finally got back up the Emporer was gone, and she had died. It had taken everything she had. I knew what I had to do to save her. I gave her my life force and we had a few moments together before I passed into the Force. Together we felt my life had given her more than just her own life back. The union had conceived our daughters who’s life force we were already able to feel.”

“So wait, the _Force ___got you pregnant?” Poe looked at Rey, extremely doubtful of what he’d just heard.

“Yes, that’s literally, exactly how it happened.” She replied. They still didn’t look convinced. “Look you don’t have to believe me, we can’t explain it ourselves, but I’m telling you that’s when this happened.”

The two looked at each other for a second, then Poe spoke. 

“Ok yeah, the Force got Rey pregnant, go on.”

Ben continued. “What happened next was a little unbelievable...” 

“More so than Force pregnancy?” 

Ben chose to let it go. “What happened next, I passed from my previous life and entered into Force. I walked through time and space, down pathways, past doorways, hearing voices about needing to finish something. I’d heard that my whole life and didn’t want anything to do with it, so I ran. I ran across what felt like the entire galaxy and found Rey here on Tatooine. I felt myself-“ he couldn’t believe he was telling them all of this. “I found myself being reborn, being pulled through a tunnel of dark and light. The next thing I know I’m standing next to her watching the sun set.”

Ben sat silently, hoping his words had convinced the men who held their future in their hands.

“So… that’s it? That’s everything? No mysterious Force monsters anything else fantastical?”

As crazy as it sounded, Rey was relieved they'd been able to get it all out. “Yes, that’s all of it.” She finally said

He kept staring at Rey, coming to terms with what all he'd just heard. Suddenly he leaned toward her, narrowing his eyes on her as if he was trying to figure something out.

“Wait- Rey, were your eyes always green like that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like things are really about to get interesting for these four! 👀
> 
> Artist Credit: Natdrawsspace
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	12. A New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As our characters come to terms with their new reality, Ben experiences something for the first time.

Their new eye color was literally the last thing Rey wanted to talk about, and yet somehow it always had a way of coming up.

Finally feeling more confident in talking to their guests, Ben filled them in. “Anything that happens to one of us, happens to the other. It’s part of being a dyad in the Force. Both of our eyes turned green the night we got here.”

_Ben did you have to give that away? ___

_What? ___

_The first night we were here? Really? ___

_Oh... ___

She knew there would be more questions. 

Finn and Poe were both leaning forward, looking back and forth at each of them, staring into their eyes. She could feel prolonged eye contact with the two of them was making Ben the least comfortable he had been in a very long time. She also knew something about looking into each other’s eyes made people have to see the humanity in each other. She hoped Ben allowing them to look into his changed eyes might help bridge a much needed connection. 

“So wait” Poe was trying to understand what he was seeing, on top of all they’d just heard. “Ben, I can call you Ben right?” 

Ben stared at him blankly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Poe took it as a sign of progress.

“So, Ben here comes back to life, and right after you get back together both your eyes turn green? Was there like some weird force magic thing you were doing or-“

“Why does everyone have to keep asking that?! They just turned green at the same time. That’s it.” Rey’s abrupt response and staring at the floor was all they needed to get the picture.

Finn put his head in his hands like it was the worst thing he’d ever heard. Poe stared at them wide eyed, like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard.

“No way…” Rey's stomach dropped as she realized he was laughing. Of course Poe was laughing. 

“So you’re like, together the first time, and, your eyes actually _changed color ___?”

She shot him a look as if to say “PLEASE NO.” He didn’t notice, or didn’t care, she wasn’t sure. Either way he wasn't done. 

“I mean really, you two gotta tell us your secret. I’ve had some good times but never made anyone’s eyes change color!” 

Ben shot him a look that roughly translated to “I will kill you in your sleep.”

“My bad.” He caught his breath and did his best to quiet down. “I thought we were cool, but obviously not to that level yet. I can respect that.”

At the very least her friends were trying their best to warm up to the bombshell of Ben's existence that Rey had dropped on them. She had to give them that. In spite of how humiliated she’d just been, it had helped lighten the mood. For that she was grateful. She felt her heart fill with hope that this might actually be going well... 

_Wait, who else asked you that? ___Ben was looking at her now, confused.

 _Really not the time to get into all that... ___She wasn’t looking forward to that conversation either. Thankfully for her sake it would have to wait.

Finn tapped his hands on the table, trying to change the subject. “Jokes aside, can we please just recap for a second? I still don’t feel like I know what's going on.” He looked up at Rey. “You’re telling us you and-” he wasn’t quite ready to use Ben’s real name yet. “You two have had this connection thing the whole time? Because of it you felt he was being controlled by the dark side, rather than out of free will? Like there was a chance he could turn back? And after all that happened, he finally did? Why didn’t you tell any of us this at the time?” 

Rey looked at her friend who was struggling with all he’d just heard, wishing she could think of a way to help him understand. There was only one question she could think to ask.

“Would you two have believed me if I had told you?”

Finn looked at her for a second, wanting to believe they’d have listened if she’d come to them earlier with all she’d just told them. He knew himself better than that. 

“I definitely I see your point.” His mind was still processing everything he’d just heard. “I just... I wish there was a way we could have known all of this sooner. Ever since you came back from Ahch To, it felt like there was so much you weren’t telling us. It always felt like you were holding back, like you weren’t being yourself with us anymore. You were the one that got me into this fight, and then I found myself feeling like I was more committed to it than you were. It definitely explains a lot. I still don’t understand it, but somehow, it explains a lot.” 

Rey wasn’t sure how to answer that. It was true she’d been holding back a lot from them, but it had been for a good reason. 

“I am sorry I wasn’t able to tell you both sooner. I’m so sorry, really, I am. I just, I didn’t even understand it myself. Nothing that was happening to me made any sense, and yet I knew it was happening for a reason. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how I could tell you when I couldn’t even tell myself what was happening.” 

She wanted so much for her friends to understand, but she had said all she could think to say. 

“What else can I do to help you understand? Is there anything else we can explain? Any other questions you have?”

The two looked at each other then back at Rey. Poe was the first to answer. 

“I won’t understand any of what either of you just told me for as long as I live. I’ve been fighting this fight for a while though and while I don’t understand the Force, I’m pretty good at understanding people. Rey, I know you well enough to know that if you’re fighting for something, it’s for the right reasons. If you’ve been fighting for Ben, it had to have been for the right reasons.” He paused for a second, realizing the depth of what he was about to say “If you’re on Ben’s side... I guess that means he’s on our side now, too.”

Finn looked at Poe, then at Ben, back at Rey, and back at Poe again.

“Damnit Poe, why do always do that?”

“What?”

“That.” He waved his hand around. “It’s too easy for you. You always gotta make everything make sense. Damnit Rey, I’m not saying it’s easy, I’m not saying I understand it, but I can’t help but admit he’s got a point.” 

Her heart burst with joy. From the looks on their faces she could tell her friends still believed in her. They might not understand what all they’d just heard. Ben and Rey certainly didn’t even understand all they’d just told them. But somehow, the four of them in that room could feel they had come to an understanding of each other. They’d all been born into a world struggling with things much larger than any of them could ever face or comprehend on their own. Fortunately, they found themselves with people willing to work together to figure it out. 

Rey found herself unable to hold back tears from the realization of what had just happened.

“Ok, that’s enough of that, bring it in.” Poe waved her over as he and Finn stood up and came around the table, wrapping Rey in a hug. She beamed with the biggest smile as she felt her friendship with them restored. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening. The three people she cared about most were all in the same room with her, and-

She looked back and saw Ben had stood up. He was awkwardly standing against the wall and staring at the door as if he wanted to escape.

“Oh come on big guy! Don’t make this weird!” Finn was right, Poe always knew what to say. 

“It’s just, I don’t really do hugs.” Ben wasn’t budging. “I’ll um, I’ll leave you to it.” He went to leave.

Rey couldn’t help herself. “Not an option, my love!” Rey reached out with both hands and pulled him in, very much against his will. Finn and Poe laughed as they awkwardly attempted to include their new very tall friend in their group hug. 

Ben was staring at the ceiling as if he wanted to die, then by some miracle Rey felt something warm up inside him. He looked down at the three of them for a moment. 

She couldn't believe what was happening as he too cracked a smile and started to laugh. A small part of her heart ached thinking he’d probably never had friends treat him like this, to make him feel like he was part of a group. She could feel he had no idea what to make of it, and yet in spite of everything he couldn’t help but enjoy it. 

Fortunately for him, it was something he was going to have to get used to. 

Unfortunately for him, Rey knew Poe and Finn would do all they could to keep him on his toes as they figured out their new normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one ended up being shorter than I imagined it would be. When I write these chapters I just let the words flow and see where the characters take me. Sometimes they end up being longer than I expect and I have to split them in two. Sometimes they end up shorter than I expect, which was the case with this one. After all these four have been through, I'm amazed how quickly I was able to reconcile them. Guess that's how you know you're with the right people. I'm so proud of them. *Tears up*
> 
> Now to figure out how the hell Finn and Poe found Ben and Rey on Tatooine...
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	13. Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey prepares dinner as Ben, Poe, and Finn remember where their story began.

Rey’s joy over the current moment was interrupted by the pangs of pregnancy hunger. Growing two babies meant she couldn’t go very long without food, and the past few hours had taken their toll. 

“Who’s hungry? I’m starving.” 

“Don’t worry about us Rey.” Finn didn’t want to impose. “We brought enough to feed ourselves for at least a week.”

“No I won’t hear it, I insist.” She figured sharing a meal might help the three former-enemies-turned-friends get used to being around each other. She needed to get them working together as soon as possible so she could figure out how their isolation had been interrupted, and nothing brought people together like a shared meal. “It’s nothing fancy, some Nuna plus some new vegetables I just found at the market that I’ve never tried before. There’s plenty to go around.”

The four made their way into the kitchen and Rey did her best to keep things lighthearted. BB8’s excited beeps over seeing his humans happy with each other again certainly helped. She could tell Poe and Finn were still slowly getting used to the idea of being in the same room as the former leader of the First Order, but it warmed her heart to see how hard they were trying. Ben was silent. Rey could feel a part of him wanted to disappear. 

_I know this isn’t easy, but I’m so proud of you for how hard you’re trying. You have no idea how happy it makes me to have you three together. ___

It was all Ben needed to hear. He smiled at her, knowing he could get through anything as long as it made her happy. 

Rey began getting dinner ready, making sure to give Ben a job to do. She figured giving him something to focus on would help him feel more comfortable. Both of them were still figuring out cooking meals for themselves. Rey had survived most of her life on just-add-water portion bread and Ben had spent the last decade having all of his meals prepared for him. Though they came from two totally different walks of life, their skills in food prep were pretty well matched, which is to say very little. 

Ben began cutting up the vegetables. They looked a little like onions but were much larger than any he’d ever seen. Sure enough he soon felt a sting in his eyes that made them water. Poe noticed him struggling and figured he’d offer some advice. 

“You might want to re-think your technique.” 

Ben stared at him blankly, unsure how to respond. He decided to ignore it and went back to chopping, eyes watering even more. 

“Poe, what…” Rey didn’t understand what had just happened.

Poe smiled at her. “Just another inside joke Rey.” He was up to something. “I’m telling you, me and this guy go way back.” He reached over and put his arm around Ben’s shoulders, grabbing him in a side hug. Ben wiped his eyes with his sleeve and continued ignoring Poe, struggling to stare down at what he was doing. He had a look on his face like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to kill Poe or himself. Rey wasn’t sure what had happened between them when they’d met as enemies, but she figured it was time to get things out in the open. She couldn’t take many more “inside jokes”, and by the looks of it neither could Ben.

“I’m afraid to ask, but exactly… how far back do you two go?”

Poe looked at Ben. “I think this is a story Ben should tell.”

Finn laughed. “Yeah, this should be good.” 

Poe and Ben looked at Finn, confused.

“I mean, I was there, but, you two probably wouldn’t remember.” 

Poe looked back at Ben. “So, do you want to tell this one?" 

Ben finally stopped chopping and looked up, sighing. There was no avoiding it. Part of him had to admit some of the hell Finn and Poe putting him through was deserved. 

“It was on Jakuu.” He started, figuring he might as well get it over with.

“Oh?” Rey was intrigued. “This one I have to hear.”

Ben went on. “We got intel part of a map to Luke had been found. I had, um, I’d been ordered to find it.” He stared down for a moment, remembering Snoke's orders had specifically included ‘raise the village to find it’. The shame of remembering orders like that wasn’t new, but it wasn’t easy being reminded of them under the circumstances. He did his best to continue. 

“We showed up right as Poe was trying to escape with it. We thought he was gone and I started questioning Tekka.” He paused remembering what happened next, and left out the part about cutting him down. As much as he was trying to warm up to Rey’s friends, he wasn’t anywhere near ready to open up about past actions he was still grieving. “Poe’s X-wing had been fried and he was still around, hiding. He tried getting a shot off at me. I stopped the blast-“

Poe interrupted him. “You should have seen it, Rey. I thought I’d lost my mind.” 

Finn agreed, “We all did.”

Rey wasn’t sure to make of the conversation they were having. On the one hand, it was clear Poe was giving Ben a hard time. On the other, talking through a shared experience at least got them talking, and that was having the unintended affect of making some kind of connection between them. 

Ben went on. “I stopped the blast and froze him, ordering the nearest troopers to bring him to me.” He tried remembering how it had gone, looking at Poe. 

Poe jumped in. “So this guy's right in my face, and I’ve got no clue what’s going on. I was like ’Who talks first, I talk first? You talk first?’ It’s hard to get a read on someone with their head covered in metal.” He looked back at Ben. “Glad you decided to ditch that part of your look man, it didn’t suit you.” 

Ben still wasn’t sure what to make of Poe, but in spite of everything some part of him couldn’t help but feel himself warming up to him.

“So we figured out pretty quickly the map was gone.” Ben paused again, coming to another part he’d been dreading. There was no leaving this part out. He looked to Poe and Finn, trying to find the words of what he needed to say next. “I want you both to know, when I gave that order… the order to, execute the villagers…”

He looked at Rey to gauge her reaction. 

_It’s ok Ben. It’s important to talk about these things. You know I’m here for you. ___

It was all the reassurance he needed. 

“I never meant for any of that to happen. It never would have happened had there not been a thousand voices in my head screaming to make it happen. I know what it looked like, that I was a monster. The dark side made me do monstrous things, I know that.” He looked at Poe, unsure what else to say. “Anyways, that’s what the mask was about.” 

The three men sat in silence, remembering the horror of what they’d witnessed together, Ben feeling a fresh batch of shame over one of the many horrible things his former self had done. Finn and Poe could see the pain in his eyes, and Poe suddenly regretted bringing it up. 

He patted him on the back again saying the only thing he could think to say. “Well, Ben, we’re glad you’re here now.” He decided to continue the story, saving Ben from having to go any further with it. 

“So I get taken prisoner, thrown in a cell strapped to this torture chair thing. Some storm troopers spend the next few hours coming in taking turns beating the ever-living hell out of me. None of them can get out of me where the map is. Of course they call-“ He stopped for a second, unsure of how to refer to Ben in that context. “So Ben, do you want us to use your old name when we talk about this stuff or-“

Ben didn’t know how to respond. He’d never expected that kind of courtesy from anyone, least of all the men who stood before him. Now that he’d been asked the question he had no idea how he’d prefer they refer to his former self. 

“I, um, I guess-“ After thinking about it for a moment he realized he never wanted that former self to be referred to as Ben. Kylo Ren was who he’d been during that part of his life, and that’s whom they should be referring to when talking about his past.

“Use my old name, Kylo Ren, that’s who I was back then.”

Poe nodded in understanding. “So they call Kylo Ren in to finish the job. I’m in rough shape but telling myself I’m not about to give in. He goes on about how he’s impressed they didn’t get anything out of me. Of course I think I’m the smartass like ‘You might want to rethink your technique’. Sure enough, what does he do? Without saying a word, he uses the Force to get it out of me. I tried to resist but I didn’t last a minute.” Poe shook his head. “Used my own words against me and switched up the technique. I never saw it coming.” 

Ben looked up in disbelief. He’d never expected humor in this situation. “I guess I never thought about it that way.”

Poe continued. “The real hero of the day though was Finn. I come to and next thing I know I’m being broken out. Finn, you tell the rest of it.”

Finn jumped back in. “Rey knows the rest of what happened. I break Poe out and we steal a tie fighter, try to head back to Jakuu and crash. I crawled through the desert to Nima. Rey finds me there with BB-8 and we steal the Falcon the rest is history.”

“Hux got in so much trouble for all you two did.” Ben spoke up and it was Finn and Poe’s turn to find themselves shocked by what he said next. “It’s a shame you weren’t there to see it. One of his stormtroopers escaping and taking with him the best pilot in the resistance- Snoke laid into him like he’d failed the entire First Order. He just about had him in tears. You two would have loved it.” The three men slowly broke into smiles realizing they’d finally found something they could bond over- their shared hatred for Armitage Hux.

In that moment it dawned on Rey how unlikely all of it had been, how the four of them had been thrown together in that scenario the way they did. Ben and Poe meeting up on opposite sides of the war made sense, but she and Finn were nobody at the time. The Force always had a way of putting people where they needed to be. She couldn’t help but feel that might be the case for where they found themselves in the present moment… 

Suddenly she remembered the one question she’d been meaning to ask since they’d arrived.

“Well, now that we’ve all had that trip down memory lane, I have to ask- how did you two find us here? How do we make sure no one else finds us here? Are we even still safe here?”

Finn and Poe looked at each other nervously at her last question. The reality of Rey and Ben’s situation rolled over them as they remembered all that had happened over the past three months. 

Before they could answer the alarm on the stove let them know dinner was ready. Finn was the first to speak up. “You two should probably sit down first. We’ll fill you in on everything that’s been going on over dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	14. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Poe fill Rey and Ben in everything that's happened in the galaxy since they've disappeared, and how much that's going to affect them.

Rey and Ben were both full of anxiety as the four of them made their way back to the dining room. As soon as they had sat down, Rey brought it up again. 

“Well, let’s hear it. How did you find us here? Are Ben and I still safe here?”

Finn was clear. “I wouldn’t plan on staying on Tatooine if that’s what you’re asking.”

Rey’s heart sank. Spending her life in the desert had once been the last thing she wanted, but now that she and Ben had made a home together, their little homestead had become a paradise, one she couldn’t imagine ever leaving. She barely got her next words out.

“But… we can’t stay here? Why?”

Finn continued. “If you don’t want ships of fans showing up to train with Luke Skywalker’s apprentice, we’re going to need to find you two somewhere else to go where you can actually hide.” 

The irony of that statement... Ben was the only one who’d truly been Luke’s apprentice and neither of them had really followed anything he’d taught them. 

“What adoring fans? What are you talking about?” Rey was confused.

Poe filled her in. “Everyone in the galaxy knows your name now. You’re the hero that finally overthrew the Emperor and freed the galaxy once and for all. You think Luke was a legend? Wait till you hear what people are saying about you.”

Finn did a mimicking voice. “Oh that Jedi Rey! I hear she brought down a whole fleet of imperial star destroyers with her bare hands!” He laughed. “It’s nuts, I mean not that it isn’t deserved, you’re every bit the hero everyone is saying you are. We’ve always known you were. It’s just crazy to see everyone around you talking about it, and on top of that you’re nowhere to be found. The entire galaxy has been looking for you the past three months. You’re lucky we got to you before anyone else did.” 

Rey stood in stunned silence taking in what her friend has just told her. Her whole life she’d been nobody from nowhere and now she was hearing everyone in the galaxy knew who she was? She couldn’t begin to process it. She then remembered the question she’d been meaning to ask since they arrived.

“How did you find us anyway?”

“Red five? Really Rey?” Poe looked at her like she should have known better. “What part of taking Red Five to “disappear” seemed like a good plan?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Luke Skywalker’s X wing? The most legendary X wing of all time? The one we all grew up with bedtime stories about how it destroyed the Death Star? You didn’t think that flying off in that x-wing after the war ended wouldn’t get noticed?”

“I didn’t really get a lot of bedtime stories growing up Poe so I wouldn’t know.”

“Fair point, my bad.”

“But wait-“ Rey remembered she had actually thought to turn tracking off. Unfortunately she hadn’t done so until she got to Tatooine. Was she really spotted that quickly? “I know I made sure to turn off tracking as soon as I got here.”

“Red five going anywhere gets noticed, Rey. Red Five flying off to the middle of nowhere after a war ends gets people talking. After the first month or so we heard it had been spotted heading this way and gone silent on Tatooine. When we searched for you out here you were nowhere to be found. We figured you’d turned off tracking, or someone had done it for you. That got us worrying. Finn had the idea of how we could find you.”

“I decided we should try and find Maz’s codebreaker again, see if he knew of a way to track ships that had gone silent. Sure enough, he knew of a way to hack in through a back door into a tracker and turn it on again. Once we found you here we turned it back off and got here as soon as we could. We wanted to make sure we got here quickly in case anyone else had spotted it.” 

“So wait…” Rey was afraid to ask but knew she had to. “Are you saying people are going to come looking for us here?”

“We’re saying if someone did spot it, it won’t be long before rumors fly you’re hiding out here and people will come looking for you.”

“We need to leave.” Ben finally spoke up. “We need to pack up and get out of here before anyone else has a chance to find us.” Rey knew he was right. As much as she didn’t want to leave the home they’d worked so hard to make together there was no way they were going to risk staying somewhere that had attracted attention. 

“You won’t tell anyone you found us will you?” Her eyes pleaded with her friends to keep their secret. 

“I’m not sure it’s as simple as that.” Poe tried to make her see the reality of their situation, a reality they wouldn’t be able to hide from for much longer. “It’s like I said, the whole galaxy is looking for you. You’re the first legend anyone has had to believe in in a long time. People need heroes to believe in. After all that’s happened they’re desperate for any glimmer of hope they can get. They want to know peace is truly restored and the Jedi returning are a symbol of that. If we just go back and say we didn’t find anything and stop looking people are going to figure out something is up. If we don’t come up with a story to satisfy the masses about where you are and what you’re up to in the Force they’re going to start looking themselves. No matter where you go, if you just run eventually someone will find you. From now on you’re going to need a plan to keep yourselves safe.”

Finn chimed in. “Rey, you should have come to us and at least told us where you were going. I get you didn’t want to tell us during the war but after all that happened you could have been honest with us after the fact. We’re your friends, you know you can trust us.”

Rey knew they were both right. At this point she had no doubt in her faith in them, she just wished she’d seen that sooner. After all that she’d hidden from them, here they were having dinner with her and Ben after combing the galaxy to find her. She’d never had friends she could trust so deeply or who cared for her so much. She promised herself in that moment she was never going to take their friendship for granted again. 

Poe continued. “Finn’s right, you should have come to us earlier. We could have got you away easier, hidden you two away while you figured out what to do next. Now we’re going to have to come up with a plan to sell something to the galaxy about what you’ve been up to, why you’ve been hiding, and what your plans are from now on.” He considered his next words carefully. “The truth is, history is decided by the winners. Thankfully for us, we’re the winners this time.” He looked at Ben. “No offense of course.”

Ben didn’t miss a beat. “Trust me, none taken.”

Poe smiled. “Anyway, Rey your story right now is whatever you decide to make it. Whatever you want to tell the galaxy about what you’re up to and your plans as a Jedi, we’ll stand by you and make them believe it.”

Rey and Ben looked at each other, trying to wrap their minds around what they could possibly tell the galaxy that they, or more likely just Rey, had been up to the past three months. Rey knew there would have to be some truth to it. When you tried to hide something the truth always came out eventually. Their force bond had taught her that. 

“We’ll tell the truth.” Ben looked shocked. 

_Rey, we can’t- ___

_Trust me on this one. ___

“We’ll tell the truth, but only as much of it as we’re able to explain at this point, which is all the galaxy is probably ready to hear. We will tell them about our bond, how it helped Ben overcome the dark forces that controlled him, and how he came back to the light. We’ll tell them how he helped me defeat Palpatine, how the truth is I never could have done it alone. We’ll tell them how, with his final act, he sacrificed himself to save me. For now, as far as the galaxy is concerned, Ben Solo is a hero who died saving the woman he loved.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our OTP have had a (somewhat) chill and much deserved honeymoon for the past three months. Now it’s time for Rey and Ben’s real adventures to begin...
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	15. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey shares her ideas for their future, and realizes what the galaxy truly needs is love.

“I’m not sure I follow you.” Finn was confused. “How does that explain disappearing for three months?”

“I’m getting to that.” Rey centered her thoughts as the parts of her plan fell into place in her mind. “We’ll make this a story about love. Nothing gives people hope like a love story. We’ll explain how Ben had been targeted by Palpatine as his pawn to bring back the dark side, the demons had come for him his whole life, how even his legendary Skywalker family were devastated they couldn’t save him from the forces that came for him, and how in the end, the one thing that saved him was love- his love for me.” She and Ben smiled at eachother, both knowing every word of what she’d just said was true. 

Rey went on. “We’ll tell them that, being a dyad in the Force, losing him was like losing half of myself, and that for the past three months I’ve been hiding on Tatooine while I mourned Ben’s loss. After all that happened I needed time alone. I wasn’t ready to face the galaxy and tell about all that I’d been through.” In a way she realized that was partially true. When he had disappeared on Exegol it had felt like she’d lost half of herself. The only thing that had kept her going was knowing that he was coming back for her. As for the past three months, she had been hiding because of what had happened the moment he passed on- a truth they weren’t ready to share yet with the galaxy. 

“We will make the galaxy fall in love with Ben, just as I have.” She took Ben’s hand, letting him know they were in this together. “We’ll make them see he was a hero in this story, not a villain. Someone who was used in the worst ways imaginable by forces he didn’t understand, forces larger than himself. We’ll make them see what a miracle it was that after years of unimaginable suffering he was able to defeat all that had come for him and turn to the light for the woman he loved.”

Poe and Finn sat silently for a moment, thinking over all she’d just said. 

“I like it.” Poe noded. “Make the galaxy fall in love, damn, that’s good. After all the war and misery people have been through it’s about time they had a love story to lift their spirits.” He kept thinking on it, realizing how perfectly it made sense. “So, what’s the story going to be- what do we tell people you’re up to now? What’s the real plan?”

Rey hadn’t made it that far yet. A real plan… they hadn’t had much of a real plan since they’d arrived on Tatooine, other than figure out how to survive together and raise a family. That was all that really mattered to them. Sure, they’d meant to try and figure out how Ben had come back and what their destiny in the Force was meant to be. However every time they’d tried to approach the bigger questions they’d either come up against dead ends or they’d felt themselves being pulled away from the quiet and isolation they loved. It was clear that quiet was coming to an end, and the Force was about to set them back on the path it had intended for them.

She suddenly remembered what Luke had said the last time she’d seen him. 

“I’m sure the Force will tell you all you need to know, whenever it feels like getting around to it of course. It has a way of doing that.” 

Clearly the Force was telling them to leave Tatooine. They still needed to go somewhere that they’d be left alone, to hide Ben and bring their babies into the world, as well as to study the Force and explore all it had to show them. She knew exactly where that would be. As soon as she thought of it, the feeling inside her told her it was exactly where they were meant to be. 

“We’re going to Ahch To.” Ben looked up a little surprised at first that she’d decided so quickly, but soon felt the same peace with the decision that she felt. Ahch To was where they were meant to be. It had been the place that had brought them together when the rest of the galaxy had fought to keep them apart. It would be the place where they would continue to be together now that they had each other, but still needed to hide from a galaxy that wasn’t ready to accept them or their family. It would be where they would raise their family, study the Force together, and hopefully start to find answers to all the questions they so desperately needed to answer. 

Rey continued as the plan came to her. “We’re going to Ahch To. We will tell people I need to be alone there, to study the Force and learn more about it’s mysteries. We’ll tell them that there’s still so many things I don’t understand about the Force that I need to figure out before trying to bring the Jedi back.” She realized again that was partially true, she would be doing all of that, she was just leaving out the part about having Ben with her and bringing their children into the world. 

“The truth, the real truth is, we’re nowhere near ready to bring any kind of Jedi order back. Luke made the mistake of trying to bring it back too soon, before he truly understood the Force and how powerful it was, as well as all that can go wrong. It’s clearly gone very wrong before, and every time it does the whole galaxy pays the price. Before we try to resurrect something that powerful we need to be sure we understand what we’re doing. We need to be sure we understand what we’re dealing with so we don’t make the same mistakes Luke and his father’s generation made and plunge the galaxy back into decades of war.”

“I couldn’t agree more” The depth behind Ben’s agreement hit them hard. 

Ben had paid the price more than anyone for Luke’s failure to understand the Force. He’d lost his family, himself, and almost lost the woman he loved as well as his own life. So many others had suffered because of what came for Ben, because of how his power had been misused by the dark side. The shame of all he’d done was a weight he would always carry, a weight that could only be lifted by making sure what happened to him never happened to anyone else, and that power like his would never again be used for such dark purposes. 

“So, the story for now is you’re off to Ahch To to study the Jedi teachings in Ben’s memory, to make sure what happened to him never happens again.” Finn thought on it for a moment. “Makes perfect sense.”

Rey realized he’d just given her the next part of her plan. “Yes.. in Ben’s memory… and once we’ve really figured out what’s happened to him, how he’s actually come back, when we finally have a truth we can tell and explain ourselves in a way that makes sense to others… we’ll share how he was brought back.”

“So you’re going to tell people I died on Exegol and you were in mourning the whole time, then come back and say ‘never mind, here’s how it really happened?’” Ben wasn’t convinced.

“No, I mean we need to figure out what actually happened to you before we can tell people you came back. Once we figure that out, once we have a story to tell them, we’ll say that was the point in time when you came back. Whether it’s a year or five years from now, however long it takes for the Force to show us what it needs to to understand how you’ve come back, that’s when we’ll say it happened. We’re not lying, we’re just… waiting until we know what the truth is so we can share it. In the meantime, we’ll let the galaxy fall in love with the story of how you sacrificed yourself to save me, but let them think you’re gone. That way when we do bring you back to them, they’re ready to welcome you as a the hero you are, not the villain you were forced to be.”

The three men sat silently, thinking on all she’d just said.

“We can’t change peoples hearts and minds overnight, but we can… get them moving in the right direction.” She was amazed how quickly the plan had come to her as she talked through it. It all made perfect sense. They would hide Ben’s existence until the galaxy was ready to welcome him back as a hero. In the meantime Rey and Ben would have all the time they needed to study the Force and its mysteries. 

“So… how are you going to explain, I mean, are you going to tell anyone about the babies or-” Poe wanted to make sure they had all the details ironed out.

_Let’s keep that our secret for now. ___

_I couldn’t agree more. ___

Rey and Ben held hands tightly, feeling the excitement and anxiety of their new future wash over them. Wherever the Force was leading them, the important thing was they would be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Starts drawing up designs for a cozy little family cabin on Ahch To.*
> 
> So excited for this change of scenery for our characters!
> 
> Here's these two checking out Rey's new lightsaber. I like to imagine they're enjoying one of their last sunsets on Tatooine and dreaming of their future together... 
> 
> This image was shared without credit so if anyone knows the artist please let me know so I can credit them!
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	16. Instincts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Poe help Rey and Ben iron out the details of the new life ahead of them. Finn and Ben realize some things about each other they didn't expect.

“You know, if we’re really going to do this right, we need to have a funeral.” Poe knew how important spectacle would be to convince the masses of their story. 

“A what?” A funeral for her very much alive husband was the last thing on Rey’s mind. She’d never even been to a funeral and wouldn’t know where to start planning one. 

“We’ve got to make sure we convince people he’s gone and that he’s a hero, tie him into the legacy of the rest of the family.” Poe thought on it for a moment. “We’ll do it on Chandrilla, where Leia’s funeral was. It will be just like hers, a funeral and dedication ceremony where we’ll add his part to the Skywalker Memorial.”

“The what?!” Ben was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable with the conversation. Not because of the faking of his death, that he welcomed with open arms due to the privacy it would bring. He was uncomfortable with the fact that he hadn’t even heard about his mother’s funeral, or that there was a memorial to his family. Rey’s burial of his mother and uncle’s light sabers had been their own private memorial to their family. No one else needed to be a part of that, nor should they have been. The thought that the rest of the galaxy was celebrating his family in a much larger way brought back familiar anxieties of his childhood, the feeling that everyone knew more about his family than he did. 

“Oh right, sorry, we didn’t tell you both about that part yet.” Finn made sure to fill them in. “After the battle on Exegol, once we’d all regrouped and got a plan together, we headed back to Chandrilla to re-establish the Republic. We figured doing so in the last place Leia called home would be a fitting tribute to her.” 

_It was the last place I ever felt at home, before the dark side took me, but no one ever remembers that. ___

_Oh Ben… ___Rey could feel the pain in him hearing about his family and former home. _I’m so sorry, I know this is hard for you. What matters now is we’re making our own home together, far away from… all of that. ___

Somehow she always knew just what to say to get him back to where he needed to be. 

Finn continued. “The first thing we did was plan a memorial to Leia, Luke, and… Han…” Finn was uncomfortable bringing up Han under the circumstances, but knew it was something he’d have to get used to. As soon as he said the name he felt Ben’s grief, and could tell how much he’d been through in the aftermath of it. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to feel from Ben in that moment, but feeling his pain helped him see Ben in a new light. The act had broken him even more so than Finn could have imagined. For the first time he truly sensed how much Ben had been through and just how hard he’d fought against all the horrible things the dark side had made him do. For a moment it made him lose his train of thought… feelings, the force, he’d never got to tell Rey what he’d meant to tell her on Pasanna…

“Finn?” Rey was looking at him along with the others, wondering why he’d stopped.

“Oh right, where was I… oh, the memorial. It’s to Leia, Luke, and Han.” His realization about all Ben had been through, as painful as it was, somehow made it a little easier to talk about. “It’s right in the middle of the capital, it honors them as war heroes and all they did for the galaxy. We’ll make you a part of that, Ben. You deserve to be a part of that after all you went through and all you did for Rey.” Ben looked at him shocked. Of all the people he didn’t expect to ever receive respect or sympathy from, the former storm trooper who he once tried to murder was the last on the list. He sensed there was something more to Finn, but figured he’d bring that up with Rey at a later time. 

“Well that all sounds great.” Rey chimed in. “I’ll let you two handle the details, we’ve got a big move to plan.”

“That’s right!” Poe couldn’t wait to tackle those details. He was always up for a new mission, especially to a place he’d never been before in the unknown regions. “Rey, we can help you. We’ll get you two everything you need. We can build a new home for you both on the island, we’ll get nurse droids to help with delivery and caring for the babies.” He suddenly realized this would be quite different than any mission he’d ever been a part of. “Even though you’re trying to hide, you need to take care of yourself. We can help you do that. You never should have been trying to have babies in the desert by yourself. We’ve got all the resources of the new republic behind us. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”

Finn jumped in. “Rose can help you too!” Rey sensed there was more between Rose and Finn than the last time she’d seen them, not that it was any surprise. “She loves babies. There’s no way I’ll be able to keep this secret from her and once she hears it, well it only makes sense we’d both come to help as well.” The thought of another woman to talk to was a welcome one for Rey. She and Rose had become close in the last few months of the war. Rey had missed her terribly since going into hiding. Her heart burst with joy at the thought of seeing her friend again. 

“The real question is” Poe continued “I’m guessing you two are going to want the Falcon back.”

Ben looked at Rey, unsure what to say. He certainly didn’t feel any ownership of the Falcon and that decision would be up to her. 

Rey squeezed his hand again and smiled. _It will all be ok. Remember, we’re in this together. ___

He smiled back at her. _Together. ___

“Does Chewie come with it?” Rey couldn’t wait to see her favorite co-pilot again.

“Of course!” Poe knew how much this would mean to Rey, and couldn’t wait to see Chewie’s face when he told him. “We’re gonna need some Wookie strength if we’re going to attempt building a new home for you two on a remote planet. He really wanted to come on this mission but we needed someone to stay back and keep an eye on Lando. He’s a great guy but… I’m not sure I totally trust him to be in charge of things.”

“That’s a good instinct.” Ben smiled remembering his godfather. As much as Ben had fond memories of his Uncle Lando, he and his father were cut from the same cloth. That is to say they meant well, but had a special talent for making terrible decisions. The fact that Poe and Finn had left him in charge of anything made Ben a little nervous. 

Rey smiled as she felt Ben’s enjoyment of memories from his past. That was a rare thing. 

Her anxiety about their future began to fade. She knew Poe was right. With her friends help they wouldn’t have to worry about anything. The thought of having twins by herself in the desert had always been a daunting one, but she knew she could do it with Ben’s help. The one thing she’d been worried about was how little time that would have left for study of the Force. With the help of her friends though, and a new life on a place as Force rich as Ahch To, she knew everything would be ok. She suddenly didn’t feel so sad about leaving their little homestead. As much as they’d enjoyed the isolation of those early months, it never would have served them the way they needed it to long term. Ahch To was where they were truly meant to go, and she couldn’t wait to get started on this next step of their journey.

*****

Rey took one last look around the courtyard before heading to bed. In only 48 hours her life had changed completely. She’d gone from the quiet life of a moisture farmer, to packing up everything they owned so they could leave for their new life on Ahch To. Such drastic changes weren’t anything new for her but this time it felt different from all the other times the Force had instantly changed her path. This time she was leaving somewhere that actually felt like home, and heading to another place she already loved and knew well. 

Tomorrow morning everything would start happening. Chewie and the Falcon would arrive, they’d load the Falcon up for their journey and say goodbye to the home they’d made together. Ben wanted to make a quick stop on some planet called Naboo to show her waterfalls. She’d never seen a waterfall before and couldn’t wait. For the first time in her life, she was actually excited to be leaving a home she loved for an even better adventure than the one she was on. 

“Rey, are you coming to bed?” Ben was leaning out of the door of their bedroom. 

“Yes, coming right now!” It would be the last night they shared together in this place, and she planned to make it a special one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Chewie/Ben reunion? Get ready for the feels... 
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	17. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chewie and Rose arive and are welcomed by the shock of their lives- a clearly pregnant Rey. What she has to tell them next will be an even bigger shock.

Rey, Finn, and Poe stood waiting outside the domed homestead entrance as early morning light crept over the desert. The twin suns were rising and bringing with them the warmth of the day. Rey’s mind was a whirlwind of emotions thinking over everything she had to tell Chewie and Rose. The second they saw her and her growing belly they’d know there was more to her story than what the three of them had told them during their communications chat two nights ago. 

Rey, Ben, Finn and Poe were all in firm agreement it was best not to tell anyone about Ben until seeing them in person. The last thing any of them wanted was a communications signal being intercepted by someone who might blow their cover. They'd told Rose and Chewy the basics, but hadn't revealed anything about Ben's story yet- just that Rey had needed time alone after her fight with Palpatine and was ready to journey to Ahch To to finish studying and training. Rey wanted her friends to hear the truth first, and they didn't want to reveal Ben's story until Poe went back to the capital himself. They’d made sure the hologram had only shown the three of them chest height up so as to not reveal Rey’s condition. That meant Rey would have to deliver the news of everything that had really happened in person as soon as they arrived. After having been through it once already with Finn and Poe, she was thankful that this time she’d had some time to prepare herself. 

They heard the sound of the Falcon’s engines piercing the sky over them. It circled and landed about 20 feet in front of them. Rey’s heart was pounding in her chest as she waited for her friends to emerge.

The ramp dropped and with it came Chewie and Rose. Rose was bouncing with excitement as she came down the ramp. Sure enough, as soon as the two turned and saw Rey they stopped dead in their tracks, shocked by her growing form. 

A smile slowly crept over Rose’s face. “EXCUSE ME?!” She ran over to hug her friend and squealed with excitement, throwing her arms around Rey. “You didn’t think this was important to mention?”

“RRRAAARGGGHHHH!” Chewie screeched, lumbering over and joining in the group hug. He too was thrilled to see Rey, and couldn’t believe she’d kept something so big hidden from them. 

Rey beamed with happiness as she hugged her friends back. She’d missed Rose and Chewie so much and couldn’t believe they were finally here. After savoring the hug for as long as she could she pulled away, ready to fill them in. 

“About this” she took a deep breath and looked them in the eye. “Let’s go inside. There’s a lot I need to tell you two about.” 

*****

Rey got her friends comfortable in the dining area, putting out coffee and breakfast as she readied herself to deliver the news. Poe and Finn sat on either side of her. She was so grateful for their support in this moment. How she’d made it as long as she had without filling her friends in on all that had been happening to her she would never understand. 

“Well? Let’s hear it! What’s the exciting news?!” Rose was giddy with anticipation. 

Looking up at Chewie, Rey suddenly couldn’t find the words. She took Finn and Poe’s hands trying to steady her emotions. Rose’s expression changed as she realized what Rey was about to tell her was terrifying her friend.

“It’s ok Rey, were here for you. Whatever it is you can tell us.”

“Arragh rargh raar” Chewie agreed. It was enough to give Rey the confidence she needed. 

“There’s something I’ve kept from all of you for a while now. Finn and Poe just learned about it when they arrived the other day. The truth is a lot has been happening to me over the past year I couldn’t explain. I would have told you earlier, I wish I could have told you earlier, but I didn’t understand all that was happening. I couldn’t even explain it to myself, let alone to someone else.”

Rose and Chewie stared back at her concerned. They could see their friend was in pain over all she’d kept from them, and that whatever she was about to tell them was taking everything she had to get out. 

“The truth is, when I told you I defeated Palpatine, I didn’t tell you the whole story. I didn’t do it alone. I never could have done it alone.” Rose and Chewie looked at each other confused, unsure what she could be about to tell them.

“What happened on Exegol, what really happened…” It was now or never. She looked right at Chewie as she delivered the news. It was him she was most worried about hearing what she had to say, and she needed him to feel she was there with him fully in that moment. “With his mother’s death, Ben Solo came back to the light and joined me. He’s the reason I was able to defeat the Emporer. Everything that happened, we did it together.”

Rose and Chewie stared back at her stunned. After a moment Chewie stood up and threw his head back, roaring with emotion. 

Rey jumped up and went right over to him, throwing her arms around him. 

“I’m sorry Chewie, I’m so sorry! I wish I’d been able to tell you sooner.” Tears fell down her cheeks as she hugged him tightly. Chewie howled and sobbed as he hugged her back, conflicted between the feelings of grief he had for the young boy he’d watched grow up and be taken by the dark side, as well as the anger he had at the man he’d seen kill his best friend. 

Rose stared in shock at Finn and Poe. “So wait, Kylo Ren… Ben Solo…” She looked at Rey’s belly, then back at Finn and Poe. “Is he…”

They both slowly nodded yes and Rose’s eyes went wide. “Rey… How…?”

Rey turned back toward the table, still one arm in a side hug around Chewie. He looked down at her mumbling. She could see in his eyes he desperately wanted her to explain it all, to make it all ok. 

She wiped the tears off her cheeks and continued.

“Where to begin…” She steadied herself and centered her thoughts, getting ready to tell them all that had happened over the past year. Finally the words began to flow. She told them everything, starting with when they met on Takodona and their time on Starkiller. At this point she’d told this story so many times the words came as easily as a choreographed dance. She made it all the way to the part about how they’d met in the wreckage of the Death Star and their final fight.

She stopped herself. She realized that just like when she’d told Finn and Poe, the rest of this story wasn’t hers to tell. She looked up at Chewie and back at Rose, then back at Finn and Poe. What she said next took all the courage she had. 

“I think Ben should tell the rest of what happened.”

Finn and Poe looked at each other and back up at Rey. “Totally your call, if you think he’s up for that.”

Rose’s eyes were wide as she realized what Rey was saying. “So… Kylo Ren… he’s here now?!”

Rey looked back at her friend. “Kylo Ren is long gone. Kylo was who Ben became when the dark side had taken control of him. He broke free of that when he came back to the light. Ben Solo is who he really is, who he has always been underneath years of pain and manipulation caused by the dark side.” She looked up at Chewie. She could tell hearing all of this was tearing him apart. “I’d like for him to tell you both about it. He can explain it better than I ever could.” 

Rose looked to Finn and Poe for reassurance. They nodded to let her know it was the right thing to do. Rose trusted their judgement.

Chewie howled and hugged Rey again. After all these years and all that had happened he never thought he’d see Ben again. Part of him had grieved losing the boy he’d watched grown up, and part of him still felt the stabbing pain that was seeing him take his father from the world. With so many emotions, he didn’t know what to feel. 

“Please Chewie” Rey looked up at him, begging him to understand. “He’s been through so much. There’s so much he has to tell you. He never meant for any of it to happen. The truth is the Emporer targeted him as soon as he knew of Ben’s existence. He used the dark side to infect and control his mind. Everything that happened to Ben, everything he did as Kylo Ren, it was the Emperor acting through him. It took everything from him, made him do monstrous things.” Her eyes welled up with tears again as she saw the grief in Chewie’s eyes, remembering what they’d both witnessed. “After all that’s happened, you’re the only living family he has from his childhood. Please, try and listen to what he has to say.” She could tell Chewie wanted to, but the anger inside him was still holding him back. 

Rey looked around the room, wondering what to do next. She could tell her words weren’t working. Poe, Finn, and Rose stared back at her as if she should know what to do next. She had no clue how she was going to convince this seven and a half foot wookie to meet with the man who’d taken the best friend he’d ever had right in front of him, the man who’d hunted them across the galaxy, and who’d ordered Chewie to be taken prisoner by his own knights. Suddenly it hit her. She knew who’s help she needed. 

Before she had a chance to center her mind and call on Leia and Luke for help she already felt their presence in the room. They had sensed Chewie’s conflict and knew Rey needed them. She turned around and saw their glowing forms standing behind her and Chewie, smiling back at her. Rey was the only one that could see them, but she knew they would know what to do.

Without saying a word, the two of them placed their hands on Chewie. Chewie didn’t know what was happening behind him, but suddenly his heart and mind were flooded with loving memories of the young boy he’d watched grow up. 

Rey saw everything Chewie was seeing, and it took everything she had to hold herself together. 

He saw Han holding Ben as an infant, beaming with pride as he looked down at his handsome son. He saw Han holding Ben’s tiny hands as he taught him how to walk. He saw Han sitting on the floor with Ben playing with toy ships, teaching him what each one was and what it could do. He saw Han with Ben in his lap in the captain’s seat of the Falcon, showing him all the switches and buttons and explaining how everything worked. He saw so many memories, images he’d buried away deep in his mind that had become too painful to recall over the years. They all flooded back to him in a wave of emotion. 

The last memory he saw was a new one, one he didn’t remember seeing himself but somehow he was able to see it now. Han and Leia were hugging outside the Falcon just a year ago. Leia had asked Han to bring Ben back. He saw Han’s resolve as he got ready to go find Ben on Starkiller.

With her hands still on Chewie, Leia spoke.

“We couldn’t bring him home. It was both my and Han’s greatest regret in life. All that matters is he’s home now. Please Chewie, welcome our boy home for us.”

Rey wasn’t sure if Chewie could hear her, but she felt his heart soften as she said the words. Whatever Leia and Luke had done, it had worked. Rey looked back at them with a smile of thanks. They smiled back at her as they faded away. 

Rey leaned in and hugged Chewie again tightly. He hugged her back and looked down at her, mumbling that he was ready to see Ben. 

Finn, Poe and Rose stared back at Rey in total confusion over what had just changed in Chewie. She knew she could never explain it, nor did she need to.

“If you’re all ready, I’ll go get Ben.” 

She noticed Finn was standing next to Rose and had taken her hand. Rose nodded to let Rey know she was ready. 

*****

Down in the maintenance hanger Ben wiped his eyes. He was pulling himself back together from the emotions he’d just felt channeling through Chewie and Rey above him. Rey would be coming to get him soon. It was time to go see the one childhood friend he had left in this world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the last few chapters I couldn't shake the feeling that the story wasn't moving ahead as quickly as I wanted to. It felt like every other chapter was an emotional reunion of sorts, but of course every single one of them was necessary to get to the point where I could tell the story I've wanted to tell with these characters. Writing this story I've realized what an incredible amount of work it is to reintroduce someone into a family and society they've been lost from. We're almost 20 chapters in and Ben is just getting to where he's able to be reunited with people he's known his entire life. 
> 
> It's made me realize why we didn't see as much of it on screen as we'd have liked. There's no way a two or even three hour movie could have done justice to all that needed to be done for Ben's character, for him to be reintegrated into a family and society the way he deserved. That realization, along with my very solid fan theory about how he will be able to come back in the future (which I promise I'm getting to as soon as they get to Ahch To!), has given me peace with the ending of TROS. It certainly was painful to not get the kind of ending we wanted, but the truth is I'm not sure we could have got all we deserved for this character in one movie. Thankfully the door has been left wide open for something even better to come for this character in the future. I'm hoping Disney and Lucasfilm see all the love that these movies have created for Ben, and decide to go forward with the rest of his story- a story which has more potential than any character we've ever seen in the Star Wars universe. 
> 
> If you're still with me after 17 chapters of taking Ben on the redemption journey he deserves, thank you! Your following of this story means more to me than any of you can know. We've got a lot of exciting things ahead for Rey and Ben as they journey to their new home so stay tuned! The best is yet to come! :)
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	18. A New Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends are reunited. Ben and Rey say goodbye to the only home they've ever known together.

Ben didn’t wait for Rey to come get him, he couldn’t. The last time he’d seen Chewie he’d been his prisoner, locked in a cell on a ship that belonged to him. Before that had been that horrible moment on Starkiller, the moment when he’d done the thing that had shattered his sole to the core. His heart was pounding in his chest thinking of all he would say to him. What could he possibly say to him that he would want to hear? Chewie had been like an uncle to him, he’d felt more like an uncle than Luke had ever been if he was being honest with himself. Yet after all he’d been to him, Ben had taken the one person from Chewie that he’d cared about most. 

The door to the kitchen opened and Rey and Chewie emerged. They were surprised to see Ben already standing in the courtyard. Rey sensed he was a mix of more feelings than she could identify in that moment. He was finally being reunited with someone from his past that was still here in this life.

Chewie and Ben stared at each other in shock for a moment, unsure what to do.

“Arraaaaagh!” Emotion overcame Chewie as he threw his arms up and ran over, sweeping up Ben like a child. Whatever Luke and Leia had done to melt the pain from his heart, it had worked. He was ready to welcome Ben home the way his parents had wished they’d been able to do themselves. 

Chewie held Ben in the biggest hug, holding him up a couple feet off the ground. Rey couldn’t help but smile as she walked over to join them. A few happy tears streamed down her cheeks. It was rare to see Ben dwarfed by anyone, but Chewie was well over a foot taller than him. His wookie strength made it possible to hold him up like a toddler, just like he’d done many years ago. 

Rey could feel fear melting away from Ben as his old friend hugged him. Suddenly Ben leaned back puzzled, unsure how his old friend was so happy to see him. He looked down at Rey.

_Rey what did you- ___

_It wasn’t me, it was your mother and uncle. They came to him and did something, asked him to welcome you home like they wished they could have. I’ll have to explain it later. I didn’t understand it but whatever it was he’s clearly very excited to have you back. ___

Ben Looked back at Chewie and smiled. “It’s good to see you again too Chew Chew.”

“Chew Chew?” Rey had never heard that one.

“Arrrrrargghhh!” Chewie was clearly happy to hear it again.

“That’s what I used to call him when I was little.”

Rey’s heart melted. It was quite possibly the most adorable thing she’d ever heard. 

“Now that’s a family reunion if I’ve ever seen one!” Poe laughed as he, Finn and Rose came out of the kitchen and found Chewie holding Ben. Seeing the former leader of the First Order swept up like a toddler by a Wookie was quite a sight- one the three of them regretted they couldn’t tell anyone else about, at least not for a long time. 

“So this is how it was in the old days?” Finn loved it. “Please tell me this is how it’s going to be from now on.” 

“RRRaaarrgggh!” Chewie assured them it would be as he set Ben down. 

Rey looked back at Rose, noticing her friend was doing her best to not appear nervous about being in Ben’s presence. Finn had sensed the same. He took her hand and looked down at her smiling, letting her know it would all be ok.

Rey went over to Rose and hugged her, whispering in her ear.

“We’ll explain the rest of it on the trip to Naboo. I’ve got so much to tell you, we’ve got so much catching up to do.” 

Rose whispered back “I can’t wait!” She hugged Rey tighter, letting her know she was with her every step of the way.

*****

Rey took one last look around the courtyard as Ben put his arm around her. The two shared a moment alone while everyone finished checking the ships to make sure they were ready for their journey. She couldn’t believe all that had happened in their little homestead over the past three months. Their brief life in the desert as moisture farmers would have seemed simple and hard to anyone else, but to them it had been heavenly. After the lifetimes of only knowing loneliness and war, being at peace together away from all the troubles of the galaxy had been like a dream. The little homestead they’d shared would always hold a special place in their hearts.

Finn popped his head out of the hallway entrance.

“You two ready to go?” 

“We’ll be right there in a minute!” Rey needed one more second with Ben before leaving.

“Take all the time you need.”

Once Finn was gone Rey pulled out two small vials from her pocket. They were on chains to be worn as necklaces. She’d spotted them at the market weeks ago and had fallen in love with them. She’d bought them on an impulse, knowing she’d find a use for them eventually. This morning she knew just what to do with them.

“What’s that?” 

Rey smiled. “You’ll see.” She bent down and collected some sand, pouring it into each vile and corking them back. 

“It’s something to remind us of the promise we made to each other on this spot and the time we shared here.” She reached up and put one around Ben’s neck and put the other on herself. “It’s clear the galaxy is bent on taking us far away from here. The Force has big plans for us and while we’re ready to take on this new path I don’t ever want us to forget what we have here. Wherever we go, we’ll always take this place with us. Whatever is waiting for us out there, nothing comes before this, what we have here in this moment.” She put her arms around Ben and leaned into his chest, then looked up at him. “Whatever happens to us, whatever we face out there, the most important thing is what we have in this space, just the two of us, together.”

Ben smiled down at her. “I think you mean four of us.” 

Rey smiled back. “Yes, the four of us.” 

Ben leaned down and kissed her as they savored their last moment in the courtyard together. 

“Ok lovebirds really, it’s now or never!” Poe was clearly ready to get moving. 

Rey laughed “Alright! We’re coming!”

She took Ben’s hand and they walked up the hallway and out into the openness of the desert.

Ben stopped in his tracks when he saw the Falcon. With all they’d had going on Rey hadn’t thought about what it would mean for him to be flying on this ship again. She squeezed his hand and looked up at him.

_Everything ok? Let me know if you need a moment. ___

He shook himself from whatever it had been that had taken his mind away, squeezing her hand back.

“No it’s ok, I’m ready. I’ve been ready for this for longer than you could know.”

His words came as a surprise to Rey but she wasn’t about to question it. 

They said their goodbyes to Poe. He was headed back to Chandrilla to share their story with the galaxy, or the version they were willing to tell right now. Once he’d made all the memorial arrangements to convince the galaxy of Ben’s heroic sacrifice, he’d head back to Ahch To to join them with all they needed to build a confortable home on the tiny island. A small part of Rey’s heart wished she and Ben could be headed to Chandrilla to see his childhood home, but she knew that would have to wait until the galaxy was ready to hear their real story. 

Sensing what it took for Ben to board the Falcon again after all this time, Rey realized it might be for the best that they weren’t heading to Chandrilla just yet... 

Poe’s X-wing pierced the sky and disappeared into space. Rey took one last look at the dome that marked the spot they’d called home for the past few months. She felt a mix of sadness over leaving along with excitement for what lay ahead of them. She held Ben’s hand tightly as they walked up the ramp of the Falcon, and on towards their new life together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't help but laugh thinking how Grandpa would be cringing at this chapter lol. 
> 
> Next stop, Naboo!
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	19. Naboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey learns more about what her friends have been up to in her absence. Soon after the five friends are greeted with a sight that takes their breath away.

Rey smiled as she sat behind Chewie and Ben piloting the Falcon together. She couldn't think of another sight that made her heart happier. Several months ago she’d have never imagined this being possible, yet here it was happening right in front of her eyes.

Part of her had been torn over whether she should offer to fly. She worried it might be hard for Ben to pilot his father’s ship his first time being back on it, but before she’d had a chance to bring it up Ben insisted he’d be flying. He wanted to make sure she’d be free to take in the view as they came into Naboo’s atmosphere. The waterfalls surrounding Theed would be more than enough to capture all of her attention, and the last thing he wanted was Rey being distracted by flight maneuvers in what he knew would be a big moment for her. 

Seeing the two of them working together, Rey knew it was the right choice. Having a job to do always made things easier for Ben, and of all the jobs to give him he was born for this one. Rey hadn’t known Han for very long, but most of the time they’d spent together had been on this ship. In that moment she couldn’t believe how much Ben reminded her of him. Flying made him come alive. His mind and the ship seemed to work together as one. It felt like Ben knew what the Falcon was going to do before it even had a chance to do it. She could tell by how Chewie looked at him he was having the same feeling. 

She settled back into her seat, her mind shifting to all she and Rose had just caught up on. Rey wasn’t the only one who’d had a whirlwind romance and marriage after the war ended. Her senses about Finn and Rose had been right. Finn had proposed to Rose on Endor during the victory celebrations and the two had been married a month later in the Senate Plaza in Hanna City. It had been part of a weeklong celebration of the restoration of the New Republic. Rose had beamed when she talked about it. Rey wished she could have been there to celebrate her friend’s happiness, but knew they’d make up for that now that they were together again. 

Of everyone who’d had to get used to the idea of Ben, Rose had been the quickest to come around. That was what Rey loved most about Rose. She enthusiastically saw the good in people, and loved nothing more than being given a reason to believe in someone. After all Rose had been through in her life, her ability to be a force for good was an inspiration to Rey, one she was grateful to have by her side again. 

“Are we getting close?” Rose interrupted Rey’s thoughts about her as she took the seat next to her.

“Yes!” Ben ansered, “I was just about to tell Rey to let Finn know we’d need him up here soon.”

“On it.” Finn was already standing behind them. He’d have to be the one to talk to the Nabooians when they approached the planet. News of Rey’s reappearance hadn’t reached this part of the galaxy yet and thankfully wouldn’t for another day or so. The Falcon would be long gone before that happened. They had their story for the Nabooians prepared, and would be in and out before anyone had a chance to suspect there was anyone else on the ship besides Finn, Rose and Chewie. 

They dropped out of light speed and were greeted by a beautiful blue and green planet just ahead. Rey couldn’t wait to get down to the surface. Approaching planets full of life always gave her a sense of calm that desert worlds never could. 

A voice came on over the radio as they approached the planet. “Hello Millennium Falcon! It’s a pleasure to have you visiting Naboo today. Who are we speaking to and what brings you to our part of the galaxy?” 

Finn leaned up between Chewie and Ben to answer. “General Tico here, we’re just visiting for the afternoon. Rose and I are on our honeymoon and thought we’d stop by while we were out this way. We heard the waterfalls aren’t to be missed.”

“General Tico!” That would take some getting used to, though Rey loved hearing it. Since Finn didn’t have a last name of his own he’d taken Rose’s when they’d married. “We’re honored to have you with us. We’d be happy to suggest some spots to visit in the capital while you’re here. Have you ever visited Theed before?”

“We won’t be stopping in the city today, we’d rather not attract too much attention. If you could recommend spots for a quiet picnic outside of town that would be great. Somewhere… private.” He smirked. “We’d rather not be disturbed if you know what I mean.” 

“Ugh Finn!” Rose whispered up at him. 

“What?” He looked back, whispering. “It’s the truth.” He had a point. Privacy was what they needed and whatever it took to get it, he might as well use it. 

The voice on the radio answered “Haha, I hear that!” Rose rolled her eyes and Rey suppressed a giggle. “I’d suggest the lower waterfalls south of the city. There are wide meadows at the base of them for a picnic and plenty of spots to explore- Caves, cliffs, etc. Just be careful around the water as the rocks are very slippery. No one ventures down there much since it’s hard to get there from town, but it’s the perfect spot to get away for a romantic afternoon if you’ve got a ship to take you there.”

“We’re on it, thanks for the suggestion!”

“Happy to be of service!” Let us know if there’s anything else you need during you time here.”

“Will do, thanks again.”

With that they were cleared to enter the planet’s atmosphere. Ben could feel Rey’s excitement building as they got closer. He couldn’t wait to feel her reaction behind him when she saw the capital for the first time. The Falcon flew into the clouds and the world went white around them. Just as suddenly it opened back up to a vista of breathtaking color and geography.

Rey audibly gasped as the view literally took her breath away. She felt as though her heart had stopped for a moment. She’d never seen so much beauty in one place. The capital’s palace domes glistened in the midday sunlight as the deluge of waterfalls cascaded down the cliffs below them. Her eyes could scarcely believe how much water the falls contained. It constantly poured over the cliffs with a natural force unlike anything she’d ever witnessed. 

The only time she’d seen water moving so dramatically had been the waves on Kef Bir. That had been an ocean, and a violent one. The sight before her now was a beautiful and peaceful one. Whereas Kef Bir had been a place where nature had been thrown into chaos, this was a place where nature was at peace. The Force flowed and surged in harmony as it was meant to be. 

Rose, Finn and Rey were all squeezed up between Ben and Chewy, trying to get as good a view as they could of the beauty in front of them. The five were silent as they stared in wonder at the capital city below them. It had been years since Ben had visited and it was just as astonishing as he remembered. Nature and civilization blended here in a way rarely seen elsewhere in the galaxy. It was one of the few places where humanity had figured out how to coexist in harmony with the forces of nature, rather than try to subdue and exploit them.

Ben flew the Falcon around the capital and along the cliffs so they could all get a better view. He felt wonder and awe radiating from Rey, and looked up for a second to see her face. Silent tears were falling down her cheeks. She was overwhelmed with the experience. He smiled to himself, thinking this was exactly the reaction he’d hoped for. Though he couldn’t show her all he wanted to of the galaxy yet, he could give her this one small yet glorious view into the kind of beauty the galaxy contained. 

“There-“ Finn pointed to a wide green spot surrounded by smaller waterfalls below of the city. “That must have been what he was talking about, where we should stop for lunch.”

“Everyone ready to stop?” Ben looked up at Rey, he could sense she was hungry but wanted to make sure she’d seen all she’d wanted.

“Let’s fly around a few more times.” Rey wasn’t ready to be done. “I am starving but I can’t get enough of this view.” 

“A couple more times around it is.” Ben took them a couple different routes over the city, coming up the middle and seeing the Plaza of Theed to get a better look at the palace, across the upper waterfalls in the other direction to see them from another angle. The more she looked at it the more Rey couldn’t believe any of it was real. 

At the same time, in the back of her mind she felt a nagging feeling emerge. Something about it felt familiar. She had no idea why that could be. She’d never visited this planet or anywhere like it before, and the sight was so new and breathtaking it had literally brought her to tears. Still, there was something about this place…

Her stomach growled loudly, interrupting her thoughts. “Well that’s me ready for lunch.” The babies inside her rarely let her go very long without eating. 

Ben flew the Falcon back south over the city. He spotted an area where three walls of water framed a meadow that would be perfect for their afternoon. He made sure to land a little further back from the falls so they had plenty of room to take in the view. 

The five of them emerged from the ship into the openness of the grassy field. Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes, feeling the tops of the grasses between her fingers. The air here was so pure and clean. The cool breeze generated by the falls was the most refreshing thing she’d felt in months. She felt Ben’s arms wrap around her from behind as he kissed her on the cheek. 

“Is it everything you thought it would be?” He asked as he held her, already sensing the answer.

“Oh Ben, it’s… it’s so much more than anything I could have imagined! I’ve never seen such an extraordinary place!” 

Finn and Rose were already racing towards the waterfalls to get a closer look. Chewie had brought lunch out and was setting up their picnic. For a brief moment Rey and Ben were able to forget they were on the run, hiding from the galaxy. Here in this spot, surrounded by the beauty of nature and alone with their best friends, they felt the most content they’d been in months if not ever. The peace and joy that enveloped them was all they needed to know they were on the right path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally somewhere that isn't hot and filled with sand! Standing in front of a waterfall, Ben holding her in his arms... I've never been so happy for and jealous of Rey at the same time. 😂
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	20. History Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey get some time to themselves in a beautiful meadow surrounded by waterfalls. Ben shares some history about Naboo that Rey doesn't expect.
> 
> Here's some fan art of Rey and Ben enjoying the waterfalls of Naboo, courtesy of Gwendy85. If you don't follow her yet, make sure you do! 

Ben and Rey settled into their picnic spot and started on lunch. Chewie had left them to explore the waterfalls with Rose and Finn. As much as Rey wanted to get a closer look with them, for safety reasons she and Ben stayed back. She could tell during light saber drills that her center of balance was already shifting. Slippery rocks were the last things a pregnant woman needed to be traipsing around. 

Rey still couldn’t shake the familiar feeling she had about this place. Ben sensed it, and decided it was time to tell her the bigger reasons that had made him decide to stop on Naboo. 

“Something’s bothering you- a familiarity about this place?”

“Yes! I haven’t been able to shake it. I’ve never seen anything like it, and yet somehow it feels like I’ve been here before.”

Ben took a moment to plan his next words carefully. He could tell how in love she was with Naboo and wanted to be sure she understood his reasons for bringing her there.

“There’s something about this planet I need to tell you. I was worried if I told you before we came you wouldn’t want to come.”

“What could possibly make me not want to come see a place as beautiful as this?”

“That’s the thing, if you’d never seen it before there’s no way of knowing just how amazing it is. I wanted you to experience it without anything else taking away from that.”

Rey couldn’t imagine what could take away from all they were seeing. She suddenly felt worried about what his next words would be. 

“There’s a reason it feels familiar. You and I both have family ties to it. My grandmother was Nabooian, and so was your grandfather.”

Rey stared back in shock. How could he possibly know that? Knowing how terrible her grandfather had been, how could someone like him possibly have connections to such a beautiful place? 

“I don’t understand- that’s impossible…”

“It’s the truth.” Ben went on. “My grandmother, the woman we saw in my vision, she was from here. Her name was Padme Amidala Nabierre. She reigned as democratically elected queen and worked alongside your grandfather, who was a senator while she was queen.” Lessons in family history was the last thing Rey had thought she’d ever want, but now that she learned she and Ben’s families had ties early on she couldn’t help but be curious about them.

Ben went on. “My grandmother and your grandfather were key players in the struggle that led up to the fall of the Republic. I read a lot about them when I was studying galactic history. I can tell you whatever you want to know about it whenever you’re ready to hear about it.” 

He took her hand and she sensed a conflict within him as he tried to find the right words. It was clear was about much more than just a history lesson. 

“I wanted you to see family is so much more than any one person. I’ve felt the weight you carry since learning who your grandfather was. I remember that weight well from when I learned who my grandfather was.”

“When you learned… You mean you didn’t always know?” Rey didn’t understand what he was saying.

“I guess I never told you about that.” It was clear this was a painful memory. “I didn’t learn who my grandfather was until I was 23 years old.” 

Rey was shocked. The son of Leia Organa and nephew of Luke Skywalker hadn’t learned the truth of his family until he was older than Rey was now? 

Ben went on and explained. “It was always hidden from me. The only people who knew about it were my parents and my uncle. They had sensed the dark side in me and kept the truth from me. They thought they were protecting me by not telling me.” He paused, remembering a time in his life he’d worked hard to forget. “When I did finally learn the truth, it was from one of my classmates at Luke’s temple. A political rival of my mother’s had learned the truth about our family and leaked it to the press to discredit her in an election. Luke was off on a mission somewhere at the time and one of my classmates had heard about if from their family at home. Suddenly everyone was avoiding me and I didn’t know why. I confronted one of them and they told me the truth.”

Rey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. To learn such a hard truth about your own family in such an impersonal way- she couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. 

“It felt like my whole world was collapsing. I was hearing something that couldn’t possibly be right, and yet I sensed every word of it was the truth. I’d always struggled with the dark side, and then I learned that my grandfather was one of the most powerful dark side users to have ever lived. I went back to my hut and just wanted to disappear. I didn’t come out for days. Finally I got a letter from my mother about it. It was clear she was in a lot of pain over it but I was so angry at them for never telling me. She apologized, telling me she’d meant to tell me for years but had never known how to. She said she would come see me at some point and explain everything, but she couldn’t leave Chandrilla for a while. She was doing all she could to protect the family from the fallout. They still didn’t get it. All I needed was for them to come to me and explain it all in person, be with me in that moment, but they thought the more important thing to do was take care of how the public received all of it. They thought staying away from me and leaving me to my thoughts was protecting me.” He stopped, trying to remember where he’d been going with all of this. 

“The point is, back then I felt like the truth of who my grandfather was defined me. It nearly destroyed me. You saw for yourself what all it did to me, and how much it took to bring me back from that. I’ve sensed you carrying that same weight since you found out the truth about your family. That’s the last thing I ever wanted for you.”

He paused again, looking at the beauty of the scenery around them. 

“I hoped bringing you here would show you there’s more to families than just any one person. Our grandfathers did horrible things, but they’re each just one person in thousands of generations that we’re descended from. We both had parents that were nothing like their fathers, parents that loved us very much. When you think of your family, I don’t want your grandfather’s memory to cloud any of that.”

Rey let his words sink in. Everything he’d just said was true. The fear that came with learning about that part of herself had been overwhelming. Some days she’d be fine, and some days it had felt like she couldn’t breathe. Having Ben bring it up and put it in perspective for her in this way, in this place- it was exactly what she’d needed. 

At that moment a thought occurred to her.

“Your grandmother, she felt like such a kind woman when I saw her. How did she ever get tied up with someone like my grandfather?”

Ben stared off for a second, wondering the same. “I guess that’s the mystery of politics, huh? You think you know someone…” 

They both laughed. The endless multitude of ironies that each of their histories represented, everything that had led up to the two of them finding each other and being in this moment- sometimes laughter was the only way to handle such enormous truths. 

The sun shone off Rey’s hair as the wind blew it in her face. Her ability to smile and laugh after everything he’d just told her was one of the things he loved most about her. In spite of everything they’d just talked about, nothing in the world had ever felt more perfect for Ben than sitting in this spot with Rey. 

The hair around her face curled as her buns shifted to the sides of her head. Her plain clothes transformed into an ornate gold dress covered in small pink embroidered flowers. This was another vision of his grandmother.

She looked up at him and stared in shock. It felt like Rey staring at him. It was Rey staring at him, but as his grandmother? She was looking at him like she didn’t recognize him. None of it made sense. 

Rey also found herself staring at a very different person sitting next to her. Ben’s hair had faded to blonde and was much shorter. He had a long thin braid tucked behind his right ear and his eyes had changed from green to blue. 

Ben quickly realized something about this vision was different. Her surroundings hadn't changed. His grandmother was siting next to him on this exact spot. She had been right here, many years ago.

As soon as their appearances had changed, they changed back to what they knew just as quickly. They didn’t dare say out loud what they’d just seen. 

_Did you just- ___

_Yes, you transformed into my grandmother for a moment, then changed back. ___

_I was in it too. You were someone else. I think... it must have been your grandfather. ___

The two stared at each other for a moment, unsure what to make of it. Rey scooted over to Ben and laid her head on his chest. 

_Let’s not worry about it. I don’t want anything to get in the way of this perfect day we’re having. ___

_Agreed. ___

Ben put his arms around her and held her as they sat in silence. Tall grasses peppered with purple flowers blew in the wind around them. They drank in the calm of the meadow and did their best to ignore whatever had just happened. Eventually Rey drifted off to sleep.

Whatever the Force was trying to show them, they’d be here for it whenever it felt like explaining itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Learning where your genocidal grandfather is from is one thing, but seeing Ben's hair shorten and fade to blonde? That must have nearly given Rey a heart attack. Poor girl. When will the force ever give her a moments peace?
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	21. The Dark Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey spend their first night on the Falcon together. Rey has a warning for Ben about their new home.

Rey and Ben collapsed into their bed on the Falcon after their long day visiting Naboo. Rey knew she couldn’t wait any longer to talk to Ben about what she’d been meaning to tell him about Ahch To. She hadn’t wanted to spoil their day with it, especially after the Force had tried interrupting them with visions of the past, but he needed to be warned so he could prepare himself before they got there. If it called out to him before he knew what to expect the way it had called out to Rey, it could be disastrous.

“Ben?”

“Huh?” He was already well on his way to falling asleep.

“There’s something I’ve been needing to tell you about where we’re going, something I need to warn you about the island.”

He sat up and looked at her. “The place where you decided we’d build a home together?” He wondered what exactly she’d got them into.

“It’s nothing dangerous, it’s just something to be aware of before we get there.” She paused before continuing, it was now or never. “The cave I told you about, the night we touched hands for the first time, it’s incredibly strong with the dark side.”

He was staring at her intently. He couldn’t figure out why she waited till just now to bring it up.

Rey went on. “The thing is, it’s not the dark side like we’ve known it-“

“Like I’ve known it? The dark side has always been pretty clear with me about what it wants and how it works.”

“No listen, it’s hard to explain it exactly. When you were Kylo Ren, I felt the dark side within you, how it revealed itself to you, how it controlled you. The dark forces within you were twisted and corrupt, like a sickness. This cave, it’s something else. It’s the dark side, but, it’s clearer, more focused... it’s like the rush of battle, mixed with the calm of being inside a dream when you know you’re dreaming.”

Rey knew it sounded crazy but did her best to go on. 

“It called to me the first time I meditated with Luke. I tried to go to it, but he stopped me. He didn’t let me see what it wanted to show me. After our bond, when I saw you when you’d just come out of the shower-“ 

She smiled at the memory, remembering how gorgeous he’d looked, how she’d been so shocked to see him that way, how she couldn’t look away... 

“After we spoke about the night Luke confronted you, I knew I had to go see what that cave wanted to show me. I had to see the truth for myself. When I fell down into it, I felt myself overcome with the dark side, but like I told you I wasn’t afraid.”

“You jumped into a cave filled with the dark side and nothing about that frightened you?”

It definitely sounded crazy, Rey told herself. But what choice did she have other than explaining it? 

“I’m telling you, I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s completely different then the darkness I sensed when I felt the dark side within you. I just wanted to warn you about it, in case it called to you. I remember how hard it was for you when you felt the dark side coming for you in your vision about your grandmother. I didn’t want that to happen again. I wanted you to be prepared so you could shield your mind from it.”

Ben smiled and his face softened. He’d never had someone worry about him as much as Rey did. He hated to see her worry, but having someone to look out for him as much as she did was the single greatest blessing in his life. 

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, sweetheart. Thank you for telling me.” He pulled the blankets up around her and wrapped them around her shoulders. “I think all three of my girls need to get some sleep. Today was a long day and it’s going to be a big day for us tomorrow.” 

A mischievous grin crept across Rey’s face. The memory of seeing him half undressed for the first time had reminded her of something. “You know, now that I think about it, I can’t tell you how many times I laid in this bed at night and thought about you while I pleasured myself all alone.” 

It was the last thing Ben expected, not that the thought of Rey doing so was a surprise. They’d been honest with each other about how long they’d wanted each other during their first few nights together. Even as enemies, neither had been able to resist thinking about the other in that way. It had only been natural with all that was between them as a bonded pair. He just didn’t expect she’d be in the mood after such a long day. 

“So, you always got to stay in the big bed?”

“The perks of being a woman, you get the nicer bed.” She smiled, thankful that the one big bed also came with a door and privacy. “Now that I have you here…” 

Ben returned the mischievous smile, now fully awake. He rolled on top of her and began kissing her. She felt his hands work his way down to her panties and pull them off. They were all she’d been wearing, and she had his boxers off just as quickly. 

Remembering her time in the cave on Ahch To had awoken something deep inside Rey. When Ben touched her clit she was already wet with desire for him. He looked up at her surprised, amazed at how ready she was for him. He slowly rubbed circles around it, bringing her to ecstasy almost immediately. She moaned and writhed beneath him, staring up with a look that told him she needed more. He knew better than to keep her waiting. He slid a finger inside her and found the spot he knew would make her come undone. 

Rey quickly realized it was going to be hard to remain quiet. She wasn’t sure how thick the doors on their small room were, but she didn’t want their sounds of lovemaking to echo down the halls of the Falcon. She was always filed with passion for Ben, and yet she couldn’t remember a time she’d felt so turned on. 

_More, I want more Ben, I need you inside me right now. ___

_Dear gods Rey you are so hot right now. ___

Ben didn’t know what had come over his wife, but he wasn’t about to question it. Seeing her so turned on he was rock hard, more than ready to give her what she craved. As soon as he began to enter her, her head slowly fell back and she had to put her hand over her mouth to suppress a moan. The sight of her like this was intoxicating. He began slowly, trying his best to be gentle. It took everything he had to hold back. She looked back up at him, eyes wide with desire. 

_I want it all Ben, everything you have. Don’t hold anything back. Please, Ben I NEED you. ___

Rey begging him for more inside his mind was all it took to tip him over the edge. He let go of control and became fully consumed with passion for the woman he loved. It was exactly what she’d been hoping for. 

He pulled out and flipped her over, immediately thrusting back inside of her. He reached down and began rubbing her clit again, sending waves of pleasure through her body. Rey moaned loudly into her pillow. The fullness of him entering her from behind her combined with the pleasure shooting through her from his fingers was everything she needed. Ben leaned over her, thrusting deeply, taking in the beautiful sound of every moan, pushing her closer and closer to where she needed to be. She reached up to put a hand behind his neck, pulling him closer to her. 

Even inside their minds she could barely get out the words. 

_Ben I need- god damnit, Ben, fuck me, hard- please! ___

He leaned back up and began thrusting as hard as he could, both hands on her hips, pulling himself deeper and deeper into her. He’d been so consumed with pleasing her he’d barely noticed they were already levitating. It was something they were both used to by now. 

Rey was clutching a pillow to her face, trying to hold back screams she so wanted to let lose. She had to hold her breath to keep quiet, but holding her breath just made the pleasure that much more intense. He felt her getting closer and thrust faster to keep up with what she needed.

She bit down on the pillow, it was all she could do to keep quiet.

_Ben, YES that’s- ___

She came on him harder than she’d ever come before. She felt him stop thrusting instantly, his body tightening up. It was taking everything he had not to come with her. 

As soon as she was able to think again he was already starting back up.

_It’s ok, if you need to come, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. ___

_I probably won’t last much longer but god I don’t want this to end. ___

He reached around her and began rubbing her clit again, determined to make both of them come at the same time. She pulled his hand back and flipped around in his lap, something she’d never done levitating before. She rocked them both back to sitting up, wrapping her legs around him and her arms around his shoulders. She buried her face in his hair to suppress the sounds she could barely hold back. He cupped her ass as she rode him in his lap. It was astounding how well the physics of sex worked during levitation. The weight of her body coming down on him pushed both of them closer and closer. Finally they both lost it and exploded with pleasure. Waves of ecstasy shot through them as their heads threw back, mouths and eyes clenched as tightly as they could to keep from yelling out. 

The waves of energy coursing through them slowed and they drifted back down to the bed below. Thanks to lots of practice they were now much better at landings. 

They collapsed into each other as they caught their breath together, Rey with her head on his shoulders and Ben with his face buried in her hair. He loved the sense of peace that came over both of them after making love. 

After they’d caught their breath they sat holding each other for a while. Rey kissed Ben’s shoulders as he rubbed her back. Nothing ever felt so right for the two of them as being still in each others arms, especially after an exceptionally passionate round of sex. A sinful smile came over Ben’s face as he put his forehead to hers. 

“Is this what happens to you when talking about the dark side? Maybe I should have tried harder to make you fall to the dark with me after all.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. As much as that was something that never could have or should have happened, she had to admit he made a fair point. 

They snuggled into each other as they got ready to fall asleep. Rey was soon sound asleep with Ben's arms wrapped around her. He usually made sure to lay awake a little longer than she did. Seeing her fall asleep next to him was the greatest feeling in the world. 

It was his daily reminder he’d never have to face falling asleep alone again. 

He laid awake watching her sleep for a while, wondering what all awaited them in their new home...

Artist Credit- Snowdrop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If that's what happens just talking about the cave on Ahch To, I can't wait to see what happens when they actually get to the island...
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	22. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn has some news to share with Rey about himself, the details of which she never could have expected.

The next morning Rey devoured her breakfast, eagerly anticipating the big day ahead. Rose popped into the dining area. 

“I trust you two slept well!” She was staring right at Ben and Rey, seeming even giddier than normal. 

“Yes, um, we slept great. How about you two?” 

Rose looked back at Finn, who’d followed her in saying nothing. She answered for both of them, smiling. “Oh you know, about the same as always.” 

Rey felt like something was up, but then again that could just be Rose. She was always the bright light in any room. 

Sure enough, throughout breakfast Rey couldn’t help but notice Finn was avoiding eye contact with her and Ben. She made a mental note to ask him if everything was ok later. Thankfully before she had a chance to approach him he pulled her aside after breakfast. 

“There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Sure, what’s up?” She couldn’t imagine what had come up for her friend between the fabulous day they’d had on Naboo and this morning.

“It’s about what I meant to tell you on Pasaana, but never got to.” Of course, Rey thought. With all they’d had going on she’d almost forgot he’d been meaning to tell her something important, and in the months since bringing it up he had never got the chance. Rey suddenly felt guilty for never having checked back in with him to see what it was.

Finn went on. “I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while but never got the chance to. Rey… I’m force sensitive.”

What hit Rey first as shock turned instantly to joy. “Oh Finn that’s fantastic!” She wrapped her friend in a big hug. Her heart was filled with happiness at the idea of having one of her best friends on this journey with her. 

“But wait.” She pulled away, confused why he’d waited this long to tell her. “How come you never told me this sooner? You could have trained with me, I could have helped you understand all of it.”

“There’s a lot of reasons friends keep things from each other. They rarely ever make much sense.” He had a point. Of the two of them Rey had kept far more from Finn during their friendship. She suddenly felt sad for having done so, thinking how if she had been more open with him he may have shared this with her sooner. 

Finn continued. “The truth is I didn’t understand it at first, all that was happening to me. I didn’t really understand what the Force was until I met you. Being around you the first time we met, I could tell whatever I had you had it a thousand times stronger. You’re like a powerhouse. Running into you was like stumbling upon a reactor. I know I’m not nearly as powerful as you are, no one is. Well, except maybe Ben. Although I think you’re still a tiny bit more powerful.” He smiled. “By the time I understood what was happening to me you were already so busy with training. I didn’t want to get in the way.”

Rey hugged her friend again, thankful he’d finally felt like he could be honest with her. 

“Finn, you’re one of my best friends. You could never, ever be in the way.”

He hugged her back, grateful for her friendship and the fact that the Force had put this amazing woman in his path to help him understand this part of himself. 

He pulled away, suddenly having trouble making eye contact again. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

Whatever it was he was clearly having a harder time telling her about it than being force sensitive. Rey couldn’t imagine what it could be.

“Finn you can tell me anything. After all we’ve been through together you know I’m here for you, whatever it is.”

He took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to be honest with her about the last thing he wanted to talk about. 

“It’s just, it’s something I have to be honest about. Something you deserve to know. Not telling you felt dishonest and, well, I couldn’t do that.” He paused again trying to find the words to say this in the right way. “You know how, being force sensitive, you feel things really strongly, and when other people feel things really strongly you sense that too?” Rey couldn’t tell where he was going with this but he had her attention. “Being around you and Ben, it’s hard sometimes-“He stopped himself, no, this wasn’t the right way to say it.

Rey's suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe- was Finn admitting he had feelings for her? “Finn, no, that can’t- I’m sorry if I ever gave you the wrong idea, I-“

He realized she’d absolutely taken it the wrong way.

“No! Oh Rey no, it’s not that! I mean you’re a great woman and all but, it’s nothing against you, you’re just, I’ve never thought of you like that. I couldn't if I tried. It’s like I said, being around you is like standing next to a reactor.” They couldn’t help but laugh. The awkwardness of the situation wasn’t getting any better. Finn figured he’d better get out what he’d meant to say.

“So, what I was saying, how you can feel what someone else is feeling-” He looked at her, hoping she’d understand without him having to explain it in much detail. He could tell from the look of confusion on her face she needed an explanation. He took a deep breath and went on. “This is really awkward but, I just have to be honest with you about it because not telling you felt wrong. You and Ben are so powerful with the Force, when you’re feeling something really strongly, I can sense what you are feeling… even… rooms away.” He looked back at her again, hoping she finally understood.

Rey’s stomach dropped. Her eyes went wide with shock then embarrassment as she caught on. She and Ben had been so careful not to make a sound, they’d never even considered someone might sense what they were doing through the Force. Holding their breath and being quiet had just made everything they were feeling that much more intense- of all the times for Finn to sense what was happening a few rooms away. She stared at the floor, hardly able to get the words out.

“Oh no, Finn, oh god, I- I’m so sorry, I never-“ 

He could tell she was mortified. “It’s fine, I mean, I don’t want you to be sorry, it’s nothing to be ashamed about-” Part of him wanted to die having to admit this to her, but it had been so strong the night before. He couldn’t go another night like that. He’d had no choice but to tell her. “There’s now way you two could know, that’s why I wanted to tell you. It wasn’t anything more than sensing feelings. It’s not like I could see or hear you, just sensed what you were feeling emotionally. You of all people know how strong it can be. Sensing what you two were feeling, alone at night together- it just felt like I was intruding, sensing something that was meant to be private. I had to be honest with you about it.”

Rey looked back up at him realizing just how much he needed her help with all this. “You don’t know how to shield your mind yet do you?” She kicked herself for not sensing this about him sooner. She’d been so focused on all she and Ben had going on the past year she’d missed one of her best friends being Force sensitive right under her nose. 

“Shield your mind? You can do that?” The news came as a relief. The thought of staying on a tiny island with the most force powerful couple in the galaxy had been a daunting one for Finn. After the past two nights he wasn’t sure how he’d be able to do it. The ability to shield his mind would certainly be a welcome one. 

Suddenly a thought occurred to Rey. “Wait, Rose was so giddy at breakfast this morning, it felt like she knew something. Does she sense it too?” 

Finn sighed. “No, she heard me tossing and turning in my bunk last night. I couldn’t sleep. She could tell I was uncomfortable. She kept asking me what was wrong, thinking I was mad at her for something, which of course I wasn’t. I had no choice but to tell her.” He paused looking back at Rey. “She, of course, thought it was hilarious.” Talking about Rose’s highly amused reaction made the conversation a little easier. He imitated her voice. “She wouldn’t let me hear the end of it, like ’Oh Finn, no way! You can do that? Maybe we can get some tips from them!’ You should have heard her go on about it.”

Rey went bright red but had to laugh with him. Life in the Force was never a dull one. Another thought occurred to her, and suddenly her curiosity was killing her. She had to know if what she and Ben had experienced together was normal. 

“So, since your Force sensitive too, I’ve never had anyone else to ask this. Do you-“ She couldn’t believe she was asking this. Her voice got quiet. “Do you- when you and Rose are... together, like Ben and I were, do you… levitate?”

Finn's eyes went wide. “What?!” He looked away, throwing his hands in the air. “Things I did not need to know Rey.”

She instantly regretted asking, this was clearly a question she should have asked Rose. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just- damnit Finn there’s so much in the Force we don’t understand.”

“You can say that again.” 

“I’m sorry Finn.” She didn’t know what had come over her to make her ask that. Perhaps it was the need to know they weren’t the only ones who kept having things thrown at them they couldn’t understand. She wouldn’t be making that mistake again. “I’m so sorry Finn, I never should have asked you that. Please forget I ever said it. Oh god, if Ben knew I’d-“

“Don’t worry about it.” The look on his face let her know he wasn’t mad, just shocked at hearing such an unusual detail about a friend’s sex life. “Trust me, your secret is safe with me. I can tell whatever you’re going through right now, it’s a lot. A whole lot. Just the things you’ve told me that have been happening to you over the past year- I don’t know how you haven’t gone insane. Honestly, it’s a miracle you’re still here and in one piece. I’d have jumped ship the first time Kylo Ren force called me in the middle of dinner.” 

They both laughed. How any of them hadn’t gone insane over the past year was truly a miracle. 

In spite of the awkward situation that had just come up because of it, Rey was grateful to have another friend with her on her journey into the Force. Even with all of their friends finding them and being there for them over the past few days, Rey and Ben couldn’t help but still feel incredibly alone in what they were going through. Having each other was everything they had needed for themselves, but trying to understand something as large and powerful as the Force with just two people felt like an impossible task. Both the light and the dark side had millions of followers throughout history and none of them had ever come to fully grasp whatever it was that could truly balance it. Whatever mysteries lay ahead of them when they got to Ahch To, Rey was thankful they would have Finn with them to help unlock whatever the Force was trying to tell them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure which is worse- sensing your friends are boning through the Force, or having your friend tell you they sensed you boning through the Force. Either way, Rey's got an even bigger problem to worry about now- how to explain to Ben they can't have sex again until they properly teach Finn shield his mind from the things around him. I hope for their sake he's a fast learner! 😂
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	23. Prophecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our group arrives on Ahch To and Rey can't wait to show them around the island. Ben and Rey's first time on the temple ledge together takes them by surprise.

The only thing better than feeling cool sea air of Ahch To again was seeing how much Ben enjoyed it. The second they’d stepped off the Falcon together, Ben took Rey’s hand, stopping her where they stood. The feeling had overwhelmed him. She looked up to see him, eyes closed, head leaning back, wind blowing through his long dark hair as a smile spread across his face. He let the fresh sea air wash over him, soaking up every second of it. 

Rey could sense this was the first time in a very long time he’d been in such a peaceful place, both physically and spiritually. Everything he’d known over the past several years other than their desert homestead had been somewhere in the middle of a conflict. Even during their quick stop on Naboo, she’d sensed his mind had been clouded by the anxiety of what he’d had to tell her. Now he was finally somewhere beautiful and his only agenda was making a home with the woman he loved. She couldn’t wait to show the rest of the island to him. 

The five of them started exploring the island right away. There wasn’t much to unpack yet since they’d be staying in the Falcon until Poe arrived. Then the real work of building their new homes would begin. 

They’d landed the Falcon in the usual spot, on a flat area just below the Jedi village. The first place she took them was up to see the ancient stone huts. She couldn’t wait to see Ben’s reaction to seeing it for the first time. 

Standing in the plaza Rose and Finn marveled at the beautiful stonework. It didn’t take long for Ben to notice the spot where one hut had been blown apart. Rey was thankful the caretakers hadn’t felt like rebuilding it. She sensed they probably weren’t keen on spending much time around something the Force had destroyed.

Rey led Ben over to the spot where her hut had once stood. They stood together in the middle of the ancient stone circle that outlined the old hut’s footprint. She held his hands and kissed them, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up at him.

“This is where it was, Ben. This is where we first touched hands. This is where the Force showed me Ben Solo, who you truly were. This is the spot, where I was the moment where I knew our destinies were one. This is where I fell in love with you.”

He wrapped her in his arms tightly as he kissed her. The realization of all that space represented to them washed over them along with the refreshing sea air. In spite of everything the galaxy had thrown at them to keep them apart, they’d fought with everything they had against what their worlds had told them they should be. They’d followed the only truths they’d known and found their way to each other in the Force, coming together on that spot less than a year ago. Though they hadn’t understood all of it at first, everything they’d done since that moment had been driven by the need to get back to this place, and the desire to feel that same wholeness they’d felt the first time they’d touched hands. 

Finally they were back on this spot, and this time it was on their own terms. They weren’t here under anyone else’s direction or following anyone else’s rules. They were here to forge their own destiny together. They didn’t have to fight anymore for what they’d known all along was rightfully theirs- the sense of belonging they shared in each others arms. 

Ben looked down at her, eyes glistening with tears of joy. “This is where we’ll build our home, right where this hut used to be. I want to wake up every morning with you on this spot for the rest of my life.”

Nothing had ever felt more perfect. Luke’s attempts to stop them coming together had destroyed what had stood there for thousands of years. It only made sense that they would build something new there together. It would be the next chapter in the village’s spot in history as the Force revealed itself to those it had chosen. 

Rey noticed Finn and Rose looking at them, puzzled as to why they were standing in the middle of a pile of rubble. Rey waved them over as she wiped tears off her cheeks. 

“This is where it happened, where we came together through our bond. This is where Ben and I touched hands through the Force for the first time and realized our destinies were intertwined.”

“..and that made a stone house explode?” Finn looked a little skeptical at what she was telling him.

“No,” Rey laughed “That was Luke’s doing. He sensed Ben had come to me in the Force and tried to stop it. That was when I left to go find Ben on Snoke’s ship and we faced Snoke together. That was the beginning of bringing him back to the light.”

Finn and Rose smiled back at them. They could sense their friends still didn’t understand all that had brought them to that spot, and if they were being honest with themselves neither did they. All that mattered was that this place felt right. The four of them had spent their lives fighting forces bigger than themselves, and for one of the first times in their lives they finally felt like things were working in their favor. 

“Let’s go see the temple next!” Rey couldn’t wait to get them to the top of the island to see the view. The ledge that hung out from the temple was one of her favorite spots in the universe, and she couldn’t wait to share it with the people she loved most. 

Just outside of the village they noticed Chewie checking in on some Porg nests. It warmed Rey’s heart to see him back at his new favorite hobby- caretaker and protector of Ahch To wildlife. 

The island felt different to Rey this time, though she couldn’t put her finger on it. She’d never spent any long span of time on it, but for some reason it felt more like home than anywhere else ever had. Even their desert homestead they’d spent months building together suddenly felt like a lifetime away. Ahch To’s energy surged through her in a way that no other place ever had. She was finally where she was meant to be in the Force, and this time she was with those whom she was meant to be with. 

Walking up the countless steps to the temple Rey should have been exhausted, but somehow the closer she got to the top the more energy she had. She could feel the Force flowing through her, pushing her upward towards something it needed her to see. That was always Ahch To’s way. Around every corner and peak there was something cryptic and new it wanted her to find. She sensed Ben was feeling the same drive. 

She looked behind her to check on her companions. Ben was right behind her, just as eager to get to the top. Rose and Finn were doing their best to keep up. Ben and Rey made sure to slow down so as to not leave them behind, which wasn’t easy with the building anticipation they were both feeling. 

As they made their way into the temple Rey took Ben’s hand. As bare and simple as the space was, there was something momentous about it, an energy that humbled anyone that entered it. The walls reverberated with the thousands of years of history the space had seen. Everything about it felt ancient, like stepping into a time they’d never know or see themselves. 

“Out this way, you have to see this!” Rey bounded up the steps to the entrance to the rock ledge. 

“Wait, Rey, be careful!” Ben wasn’t a fan of how quickly she made her way out onto a ledge that hung thousands of feet above the ocean below, but her fearlessness was something he was used to. Still, with the new life she carried he made sure to keep an extra eye on her in case he needed to use the Force to pull her back to him at a moments notice. 

Rey wasn't having any of his warning. “I’m fine! It’s perfectly safe up here! Come on!”

The three of them followed her out onto the ledge. The view collectively took their breath away. Ben took Rey's hand, both to keep her near to him as well as to take in the moment together. As soon as they touched, Finn and Rose began to disappear. Only the two of them remained, the sky turning to evening around them.

A woman whom they didn’t recognize appeared, seated on the rock seat in front of them. This was another vision the Force was sharing with them. Like the vision on Naboo it was taking place in the very spot they found themselves. This time they had absolutely no clue who the woman sitting in front of them was. 

They walked around to face her to get a better look. She opened her eyes momentarily, sensing something there, but seeing nothing went back to meditating. 

_What could this be about? You don’t recognize her do you? ___

_The only person I know who's been here besides you is Luke. I have no clue who this woman is. ___

Suddenly something in the Force shifted and her eyes snapped open again. This time they’d gone completely white. She began to speak. Her voice was low and monotone, like a technical read out being played back. 

“In the time of prophecy, an age of rebellion,  
The Force prepares to be reborn.

From its power shall come the Chosen One.  
He will light the way to the world of unbeing.

Two his children shall be.  
Born in darkness, raised in light.

The son raises his father’s torch, journeying to find what was lost.

The daughter hides her torch, but leads the many.  
She is the mother of what is to be.

The suns will set on the children of the chosen,  
giving their light to guide what comes next.

Two more shall come to complete the task.

One born in darkness, raised in light.  
One born in light, raised in darkness.

They shall wield both the chosen and the hidden torch.

Torn apart, unbalance will challenge their every step.  
Together, their union shall conquer death.

In the serpents lairs they will find the missing pieces of the masters work.

Their children shall inherit the universe.”

Her eyes closed again. Just like that she was back to peacefully meditating as she had been before. 

Ben and Rey slowly turned each other, both of them speechless with the shock and confusion of what they’d just witnessed. It didn’t take long to dawn on them what had just happened.

_Ben, that was- ___

_A prophecy? Yeah... I remember reading about them coming to people in meditation like that. ___

_But no one else was here to hear it. This woman just recited a prophecy that was never recorded! ___

The suns drifted back to hanging high in the sky as the woman in front of them faded away. Rose and Finn were still standing behind the rock, stunned to find Ben and Rey had shifted to ten feet away without them noticing. 

Ben looked back down at Rey. “I guess it’s our job to go record it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Witnessing an ancient unrecorded prophecy on their first day on Ahch To? Sounds like the island is happy to have them there...
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	24. Finding Meaning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben work on figuring out the meaning of the prophecy they heard together. How Ben decides to go about it is the last thing Rey expects.

Nothing about what they’d heard in their vision made sense, which is to say it made entirely too much sense. The two of them had plenty of experience deciphering the meanings of prophetic verses. Before getting back to the Falcon and writing it down, Ben and Rey had an idea that the prophecy they’d just heard was a preemptive account of Skywalker family history- How Anakin had been the chosen one, everything Luke and Leia had done, how Ben and Rey had fought to get to each other, it even mentioned Rey finding the Sith dagger on Pasaana.

Or did it? 

Rey had accepted that the first thing the Force had seen fit to reveal to them was just a paraphrasing of the past several decades, but Ben wasn’t so sure. Something about it just didn’t sit right with him. 

It was too easy.

Prophecies were supposed to be hard. 

Translating ancient prophecies and studying ancient writing had been one of his favorite areas of study at Luke’s jedi academy. Nothing he’d ever read had been that clear. Something else had to be hidden for them in the words they’d just heard.

But what?

He’d always dreamed of witnessing a prophecy himself first hand, being the first to write down cryptic knowledge revealed by the Force. Now that it had happened it should have felt like a childhood dream come true, but with each line it was just another retelling of his famous family’s exploits. At least someone had thought to include Rey and him this time. 

It couldn’t be that easy though. There definitely was something they were missing. 

He kept reading over the words of the prophecy along with his notes. He’d made notes with every line to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. There was still one line that confused them, but most of it was as clear as day.

“In the time of prophecy, an age of rebellion,  
The Force prepares to be reborn.”  
_-The past several decades have been a cycle of rebellion and war. ___

“From its power shall come the chosen one.”  
_-My grandfather ___

“He will light the way to the world of unbeing.”  
_-Still unsure about this one, we’ll dive into it once digital texts arrive. ___

Rey had a hunch this one had something to do with what Luke had been studying in the Jedi texts. She wanted to wait till Poe arrived with her digital copies of the texts from R2 first before digging into it. Their dry, underground home on Tatotooine had been perfect for studying ancient texts, but the wet salty air of Ahch To wasn’t ideal. Rey didn’t want to pages falling apart from handling when she had digital copies of them already scanned.

“Two his children shall be.  
Born in darkness, raised in light.”  
_-Mom and Luke ___

“The son will raise his father’s torch, journeying to find what was lost.”  
_-Luke wielding Anakin’s light saber, journeying across the galaxy to find the Jedi texts. ___

“The daughter hides her torch, but leads the many.”  
_-Mom ending her Jedi training/putting away her light saber, her career as a general. ___

“She is the mother of what is to be.”  
_-That’s me. ___

“The suns will set on the children of the chosen, giving their light to guide what comes next.”  
_-Luke died confronting me while trying to protect the resistance. Mom died trying to save me from the dark side. ___

“Two more shall come to complete the task.”  
_-That’s us. ___

“One born in darkness, raised in light.”  
_-Rey, born to parents on the run from Palpatine, rose to power under Luke and Mom’s training. ___

“One born in light, raised in darkness.”  
_-Me, born to my parents during peacetime, rose to power under Snoke’s training. ___

“They shall wield both the chosen and the hidden torch.”  
_-We used my grandfather’s/Luke’s light saber and Mom’s light saber to fight Palpatine. ___

“Torn apart, unbalance will challenge their every step.”  
_-Our dyad was broken while I was on the dark side. The war kept us torn apart. ___

“Together, their union shall conquer death.”  
_-After we came together on Exegol and defeated Palpatine, I saved Rey from death and came back from death myself. ___

“In the serpent’s lairs they will find the missing pieces of the master’s work.”  
_-Rey found the Sith dagger in a serpent’s cave on Pasaana. Luke had been searching for it but never found it. ___

“Their children shall inherit the universe.”  
_-Whatever our destiny is, our children will inherit what we accomplish. ___

He sat re-reading the words he’d written again and again, picturing the woman saying them, trying to remember if there was anything else they’d missed.

“Ben, what is it?” Rey sensed his frustration. 

“There has to be more to it than this.” 

“I know that line about Anakin is a little confusing, but we have to wait-“

“No, not that one. There’s something else here. Something we’re not getting.” Suddenly he spotted an error in his notes. “They will find the missing pieces… I wasn’t with you when you found the dagger on Pasaana.”  


“Well, technically you were on Pasaana, you just showed up a little later than the rest of us.”

“It said 'they' though, as in we’d have found it together. That doesn’t seem odd?”

“I think you’re overthinking this.”

“That’s the thing about prophecy. You can’t overthink it. It’s always something more than what it appears to be.” 

Rey knew he was right, as much as she hated to admit it. Although she’d been the one the texts had passed to, Ben was much more suited to the task of deciphering ancient wisdom. It was clear he had a talent for it. She always looked at things too literally, while his mind was an endless web of creativity. She would read a line and gather one very specific meaning from it. He’d read the same line and have an entire page written on all the possibilities of what it could mean. 

She knew better than to stop him when he was on to something. Even if she didn’t feel he was on the right track, it was best to let his mind work it out for himself than try to debate it. The work of deciphering meaning from cryptic language thrilled him. Even if it didn’t lead to anything in the end, the joy alone he got from it made it worth it. 

Ben had another thought on the same line.

“The serpent’s lairs- lairs is plural, not singular. Was there more than one lair, or just the one?”

“Only one as far as I cold tell.”

“I mean the lair you found the dagger in, was it a system of caves or just one?”

“I guess… it was a collection of tunnels that connected to each other.”

“So would you say it was just one lair or more than one?”

“I don’t really know enough about caves to make a distinction on what’s a lair and what’s more than one.”

He could tell she was lost as to what he was getting at. Maybe he was reading too far into this part. Still, something didn’t feel right. He knew enough about prophecy to know when a line stuck out, it was important to follow your instincts. 

He had another thought.

“Serpent’s lairs- what if we wrote that wrong? What if it wasn’t possessive as in belonging to the serpent, but plural, as in more than one serpent.”

“I’m pretty sure there was only one serpent in the cave on Pasaana. Unless you want me to go back and check again.”

She was being sarcastic, not that he minded. He knew his endless musings about serpents probably sounded ridiculous. 

He read the line again out loud. “In the serpent’s lairs they will find the missing pieces of the masters work.”

“Yes, I got that part.”

“Serpent’s lairs, pieces, all of these words are plural, but you only found one thing on Pasaana which was the dagger…”

“Well there was Ochi and his speeder-“

“But Luke wasn’t looking for Ochi specifically. His end goal was the dagger. You only found one thing he’d been looking for, so why would pieces be plural?”

As drawn out as this conversation was, Rey had to admit he had a point. She wasn’t sure what else those words could possibly mean other than what she’d found on Pasaana, but he was right that she’d only found one thing Luke had been looking for. 

She knew what to say to change the course of the conversation. 

“Maybe you should meditate on it.”

“You know… you’re probably right.”

She looked up at him, stunned he’d agreed. “I was kidding, you hate meditating.”

“I know, but if something this important is giving us a hard time maybe we need to go deeper with it.”

Rey realized meditating on a line she felt pretty sure about the meaning of wasn’t necessarily a waste of time. Even if Ben was overthinking it, if it got him meditating with her again that wasn’t a bad thing. 

“Ok. Let’s take your notes and head back up to the temple. We’ll figure out this serpent’s thing once and for all.”

*****

Rey couldn’t help but feel a little anxious as they headed up to the temple together. She’d warned Ben about the cave and how it called to her and knew he was prepared for whatever happened. Still, being their first time meditating together on the island she couldn’t help but worry. 

_You’re worrying about me, aren’t you? ___Ben looked back at her and smiled as they climbed the steps.

She smiled back. _You know that’s my job. Always has been, always will be. ___

_I guess that goes both ways. Keep an eye on these steps. They’re a little slippery with the mist coming in. ___

Ben tried not to worry about what he knew Rey was thinking about. Deep down he knew it would be ok. They needed to figure out the meaning of what they’d seen, and if that meant doing something that might call up the dark side he was ready for it. Mastering shielding his mind had been what had allowed him to overthrow his former master. If he could shield himself from Snoke, he could shield himself from whatever an ancient cave tried to throw at him. 

They made it up to the temple and laid their mats out below the mosaic. Ben laid his notes between them to set their intention. It had been a while since Ben had meditated with Rey and he was surprised to find himself looking forward to it. 

The familiar peace of meditation came over them as their minds joined and they centered on their intention. It was comforting to be back in that space together. Minds bonded, every day worries and cares melting away, merging together with a common purpose. Ben felt a little sad he’d spent so much time away from it. 

Rey came to the part where she called out their intention. 

_The prophecy that was revealed to us, a part of it spoke to you. ___

_It let you know to go deeper. ___

_Center your mind on those words. ___

_Bring them to the forefront of everything else. ___

_Nothing else matters in this moment but finding the meaning you seek. ___

They felt themselves drifting out of their physical bodies onto the ledge again, standing in front of the woman, reciting the words Ben had focused on. 

“In the serpents lairs they will find the missing pieces of the masters work.”

She said the words exactly as they’d remembered them, nothing more, nothing less. 

The woman faded away and they felt their energy being pulled back to rejoin their physical selves inside the temple.

Just before they drifted through the door they heard a loud splash in the ocean below. Ben grabbed the doorway and stopped them from going any further. He went back out onto the ledge to see what it was.

A huge black sea serpent was staring up at them from the water below. Just as quickly as it had surfaced it disappeared. He knew he couldn’t let it get away. Without thinking he sprinted forward and lept off the ledge, falling towards the ocean below. 

“BEN!” He heard Rey scream just before he plunged into the water. 

_It’s ok, is is just a meditation. There’s no danger. I’ll be fine. ___

Even being fully aware she was inside a meditation, Rey watched in horror as her husband disappeared in the dark turbulent waters below. She knew he was right, nothing about this could hurt him. Still, her heart raced as each second dragged on while she waited for him to resurface. What the hell did he think he was doing?

Ben searched frantically for the serpent below the waves. He spotted it swimming off to the right. It looked back at him one more time before disappearing in the darkness below the island. 

Ben swam back up to the surface and flew back towards Rey, pulling himself through the Force back up onto the ledge. Rey was staring at him in horror.

“Ben! What were you thinking?!”

“I had to go after it, to see where it was going.” He flipped his wet hair out of his face. He could see Rey wasn’t amused. “This is just a meditation, I was never in danger. If we see a serpent in the middle of a meditation about serpents that’s pretty significant, don’t you agree?”

Of course he was right. She just hadn’t had time to process that with the sudden shock of seeing Ben throw himself off a cliff. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him disappear over a ledge, and the sight had sent her into a fit of terror she wasn’t prepared for. 

“Yes, I guess- you’re right.” Rey took a moment to calm herself. “Well, what did you see?”

He could tell he’d really scared her, and felt a sharp pang of guilt for putting her through that. 

“Let’s get back in the temple. I’ll tell you about it when we’re up in the real world.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. She was ready to get off that ledge as soon as possible. 

They felt themselves drift back into the temple and enter back into their physical forms. 

Rey opened her eyes and looked over at Ben. “Please don’t ever do that to me again, or at least warn me next time.” 

He smiled sheepishly. “I promise.”

“Well, let’s hear it. What did you see when you spiritually jumped off the cliff?”

“I know where we have to go now, to find whatever the missing pieces are. It’s the cave under the island... the one you warned me about. It’s got something we need to see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Ben, first the cliff now the dark side cave? We know you’re excited but please slow down. You’re going to give Rey a heart attack if you’re not more careful. 😅🤦♀️
> 
> If you like this story and want to see Ben Solo’s story continued in canon, please sign and share! https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-continue-ben-solo-s-story


	25. We've Got Another Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey discuss where to go next after all the Force has revealed to them. Rey brings up another issue they need to work on, and is surprised by Ben's reaction.

“Ok, let’s just slow down for a second.” Rey was having a hard time processing what she’d just heard. “After everything I told you, that’s the last place I’d expect us to go right now. What makes you think we need to go down there?”

“That giant sea serpent that came out of the water? It looked right back at me when I saw it under the waves. Then it turned and swam under the island. It was like it wanted me to follow it, it wanted to show me something. There’s something in that cave we need to see.” 

Rey sighed. She’d had just about enough of the Force for one day. 

“You know, you might be on to something, but I think we need to wait till tomorrow before we go exploring any caves.”

“What? No, you don’t need to be going in that cave. Not in your condition. We can wait till tomorrow, but I’ll go check it out by myself.”

“Not an option.” He could tell she was firm. “I’m telling you there’s something about that cave and the dark side down there that we have no way of understanding yet. After everything you’ve been through, I’m not letting you go in there alone.”

As much as he didn’t like it, part of him knew she had a point. They were dealing with things much larger than either of them could comprehend and they were going to need each other on this one.

“Ok, you can come with me, but I’m keeping a close eye on you and the second I feel like it’s too dangerous we’re getting out of there.”

“That goes for both of us.” She smiled. He knew she was right. As much as she needed him to look after her, he needed her to do the same for him. The Force certainly knew what it was doing when it bonded them together. 

Her thoughts shifted to something else she’d been meaning to talk to Ben about. 

“Before we head back down for the night, we’ve got another problem.”

“Oh?” He couldn’t imagine what other issues they could be having other than what the Force had just thrown at them.

“It’s Finn.” 

“What’s wrong with Finn?”

“Nothing’s wrong with him, it’s just that- He took me aside after breakfast to tell me something he’s been meaning to tell me. He’s-“ She paused. The thought of telling Ben everything Finn had told her that morning suddenly felt more daunting than jumping into a cave possessed by the dark side. 

“What? What is it?” It was now or never.

“He told me after breakfast… he’s Force sensitive.” 

Ben stared at her blankly. “Well… that’s a good thing, right?” He couldn’t understand why she was acting like this was an issue.

“There’s more to it than that. He doesn’t have any training, and he’s going to need our help- a lot of help. There’s something he told me about the Force, about people like you and me, that I never anticipated.”

“He’s untrained and knows more about dyads than we do?” He could sense there was something she wasn’t telling him. 

“No, not that he knows more, he sensed something I didn’t know people could sense.” She was just going to have to come out and say it. “I mean I know people can sense things about others but I’d never thought about it this way. You know how we can sense feelings from people, and when it’s really strong we can sense it from far away?”

“Yes?”

“Well, and this only makes sense once you think about it. When you and I-“ How was she going to get this out? She took a deep breath and went for it. “When you and I were having sex on the Falcon last night, he could sense all we were feeling, all of our emotions. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together and know what was going on.”

Ben stared at her stunned for a second. “So he told you this himself?”

“Yes, he felt terrible! It was so awkward for him but he had to be honest about it. Like I said he’s totally untrained. He didn’t even know shielding his mind was possible. He felt like he was intruding, overhearing something he wasn’t supposed to. Oh you should have seen the look on his face. He felt awful!”

Ben burst out laughing. It was the last reaction Rey had expected.

“Why are you laughing?!”

“Because it’s hilarious.”

“Excuse me?!” She had no idea what had come over him.

A very self-satisfied look came over him. “Of all the nights to sense something through the Force. I hope he learned something. He can count that as his first lesson.”

“Ben!” She couldn’t believe his nerve. “What is wrong with you?!”

He couldn’t stop laughing. “Think about it, you’re totally untrained and sense your friends boning in the next room. You can’t shield your mind and just have to sit there and sense everything that’s going on. I mean, we really went at it last night. How is that not hysterical?”

Rey shook her head. Men truly were a different breed. 

“Well laugh it up now but the fact of the matter is everyone on this island gets to be celibate until he learns how to shield his thoughts from others emotions.”

His laughter died instantly. “Wait, what?”

“You don’t think it’s just going to be business as usual with our friend helplessly forced to read all of our emotions like an open book? He needs our help!”

“So… no sex until we train Finn to shield his thoughts??”

“Yes! This is not a difficult concept!”

Without saying a word he got up, rolled up his meditation mat and started walking out of the temple. 

“Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to teach Finn everything he needs to know about shielding his mind. Tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Ben is definitely Han and Leia’s son. Zero fucks given. 😂 Never a dull moment in the life of Force users...


	26. Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben helps Finn figure out the basics of the Force. For Rey, seeing the two men working together brings up memories of a time when life was very different.

It was day three of Finn’s training and Ben and Rey still hadn’t made it down to the cave they’d been meaning to explore. They hadn’t told anyone else about what their meditation had shown them, instead deciding to instruct Finn on the basics of using the Force and controlling how it affected him. As much as Ben wanted to get down to the cave, he had other priorities to attend to. 

Finn didn’t need the Force to sense there was more to Ben’s dedication to his training than he was admitting. Of course Rey never would have admitted to sharing her friend’s secret of what he’d accidentally sensed, but she didn’t have to. It wasn’t hard for men to read each other. Not that he blamed him of course. If someone had been keeping him from being with Rose he’d have done everything in his power to fix whatever needed fixing. 

Rey and Rose were on the hillside just above the village, soaking up the warmth of the midday sun. Today was the first day Finn had worked with a light saber. They watched as Ben led Finn in a round of sparring. Rey’s balance wasn’t what is used to be, so Ben had taken on this part of Finn’s training alone. Rey was glad to see her new yellow saber getting some use as Finn wielded it against Ben’s purple saber.

Rey had expected Finn to be filled with anxiety facing off against Ben. She couldn’t believe the peace she sensed within him as they got started. His lessons at balancing his emotions and shielding his mind were clearly having their intended effect. Rey decided it might be healthy to allow her own thoughts to take their course while watching them. Controlling ones mind was important when it served a purpose, but she’d found shielding herself from emotions when it wasn’t necessary never led to anything good. Her mind was a whirlwind as she watched the two sparring together in the plaza.

“Is everything ok?” Rose could tell something was on her mind. 

“The last time I saw them coming at each other with light sabers, it was on Starkiller almost a year ago.” 

Rose looked back down at them, realizing what she was saying. “Oh Rey, that’s, wow… you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, I do. I really do actually.” Of all the people she could be having this conversation with, she was glad it was Rose.

“It was right after Han had been killed. I’ve never seen a person in so much emotional pain. Kylo came at us in the woods like a crazed animal, looking for something to lash out at to distract himself from what his soul was going through. He was hitting himself where he’d just been shot, making himself feel excruciating physical pain to try and focus. It was the only thing he could do to distract from the emotional pain that gripped him.” Rey paused, remembering what a troubling sight that had been.

“I wanted to feel sorry for him, but at the same time it was terrifying seeing someone so unhinged. I raised my blaster in case he came at us and he threw me back in the snow. I was knocked unconscious for a moment. What woke me up was the sound of Finn screaming.” She paused again, trying to remember what all had happened next. “Kylo had him up against a tree and was burning him with his cross guard. Somehow he was able to get away, but Kylo disarmed him and struck him up the back, after which he collapsed. I thought I’d just seen my friend killed right before my eyes.” 

She took a deep breath remembering the trauma of that moment, while also taking in the peaceful sight that played out before her. She nodded towards the two men as she spoke. “This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.” 

They continued watching them, thinking over what all that moment meant for the four of them. Rose had loved seeing Finn discovering this part of himself, but now that Rey had told her the significance behind what they were watching it made the sight of them working together that much more incredible.

“So wait, what happened next? How did you two mange to get away?” Rose was curious how Rey had saved both Finn and herself from a fighter as formidable as Ben. The kind man that stood in front of them now was nothing like the terror he’d once been to behold, and yet the sight of someone his size wielding a light saber as well as he did was still incredibly intimidating. She couldn’t imagine how terrifying he must have been coming at them as his former self, unhinged and full of rage. 

“That’s when things got really strange. I saw him going for the other saber. Without thinking I reached out my hand for it and it flew to me instead. Next thing I know he was looking at me like I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.” She tried not to dwell on it but it was impossible not to. It was the single most exhilarating moment in her life up to that point- and it had felt like for all the wrong reasons. She’d been right in the middle of the most horrific situation she’d ever been in, and yet she found herself longing for the person who was responsible for all of it. 

“So… what happened next?”

Rose was staring at her wondering why she’d stopped.

“Right, well, I didn’t know what to think. I ignited the light saber like ‘are we doing this?’. He spun his around like ‘I guess so’. So we went at it. I did my best but was totally untrained back then. He got me up against a cliff and said ‘You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the force!’ So not only did he have the nerve to take out my friend, he’s basically just asked me out in the middle of a fight.” 

Rose laughed uneasily; she hadn’t expected the story to take this turn. Then again after all her friends had told her the past few days, there wasn’t much that shocked her anymore. 

“So what did you do?”

“Well, he didn’t give me a choice. I fought back and I beat him.”

Rose looked back down at Ben then back up at Rey. She knew her friend was a good fighter but physically she shouldn’t have been any match for Ben.

“You beat Ben in a fight?”

“I beat Kylo in a fight. I wouldn’t call it a fair fight. It’s like I said, he was coming apart inside. The thing about dyad’s is we’re equally matched power wise, so if one of us is hurting the other will be the more powerful one.” 

“Huh… I guess that makes sense.” Truth be told nothing about the Force made sense to Rose, but that was the reason they were where they found themselves- to try and understand something that up until that point in history had been impossible to understand.

Ben noticed they had an audience and pointed the girls out to Finn. Finn turned and smiled; waving them down to let them know to come get a closer look. He couldn’t wait to show them all he’d learned.

*****

After a long day of training with Finn, Rey and Ben got ready for bed. Rey hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all she’d told Rose. She hadn’t thought about it in a while but the way Ben had looked at her when she caught the saber was something that had stuck with her immediately after Starkiller. In the days and months after it had happened, everywhere her mind wandered she’d found him looking back at her like she was everything he’d ever wanted. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she hadn’t been able to get those dark eyes out of her mind, and yet it really hadn’t been that long ago. 

“You’re thinking about Starkiller. Everything ok?” Ben had noticed her mind felt preoccupied after watching them sparring.

“Seeing you two working together made my heart the happiest it’s been in a long time, but it also brought a lot of that back up for me. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how you looked at me when I caught the saber. It was something that stuck with me for a while after we fought.”

These conversations were never easy, but it was something they were used to by now. The more they talked about the hard experiences they’d shared, the more it brought them together. 

“That stuck with me too, mostly because I could sense how terrified you were of me. I’d never wanted anyone so much, and yet you looked at me like I was a monster. With all the pain I was going through in that moment, there was something else adding to it. I couldn’t believe I was able to feel anything else on top of all of it.”

“I wasn’t terrified of you Ben, I could never be terrified of you. I was terrified of what I felt for you. You were the only thing that had ever felt right in my life and yet we were supposed to be enemies. It was… bewildering.”

“If we’d known what was happening to us, that night would have gone a lot differently.”

“Indeed it would have.” She smiled, remembering all the times she’d fantasized against her better judgment about just that. “You know I used to fantasize about us being in those woods together, just the two of us. It didn’t make any sense to me at the time but it was the only thing I could think about that brought me any peace, being alone with you with no one else keeping us apart.”

From the look on his face it was clear she’d just told him one of the greatest things he’d ever heard. “I used to fantasize about the same thing. We could have been thinking about it at the same time and never have known.”

Without thinking Rey’s hand snaped up and caught Luke’s saber, the one she’d buried in the sands of Tatooine. She stared at it stunned, wondering where it could have come from. The walls around them faded to black as trees stood out against the soft snow falling around them. 

She looked back at Ben to see if he was seeing what she saw. The man she’d married had disappeared and in his place was a younger version of himself. It had only been a year ago and yet both of them had felt so much younger. His green eyes had gone dark, and he was wearing his old black apprentice robes. He was staring at her the way he had the first time she’d caught the saber. 

Perhaps the greatest shock was feeling the lives that grew inside her had gone quiet. She looked down to find her old scavenger clothes, and her once perfectly flat belly. 

This was a vision, but unlike the others they’d shared this was one they knew well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longer they put off confronting what the Force is trying to show them, the crazier things get. Can't wait to see where this one goes...
> 
> Sorry for not getting an update up yesterday! Where I decided to go with this chapter and the next one took me a bit by surprise, but I knew it was right once I got into it. I wanted to make sure they were both just right before posting. Hope it was worth the wait! :)


	27. Starkiller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey find themselves in a place they created together. What happens next has them discovering parts of each other they didn't know they needed...

There was a familiar darkness in his eyes, not just their former color, but the way they hungered uncontrollably for her. It was a side of him she hadn’t seen much of since his return to the light. He was filled with the dark side, but this time it wasn’t the twisted corruption that had gripped him for most of his life. It was pure fire. He wasn’t tormented by it- he was driven by it. For the first time in his life the dark thoughts that possessed him were all his own.

This wasn’t the man she’d encountered on the blood stained snows of Starkiller. This was the man of her fantasies, the one that came to her wanting nothing in the universe but her. By the way he looked at her, and from the things she felt inside herself, she could tell she was also in part inspired by his imagination. 

Ben was the first to speak.

“Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“Nothing. There’s no one else on this planet besides the two of us.”

She looked up. No Ties or X-wings flew overhead. They couldn’t sense a single soul anywhere on the planet. They were all alone. She was too afraid to say her next words out loud.

_What could this mean? ___

_I think we did this. This is more than a vision. This is something we created. ___

_But how… ___

_Does any of that matter now? ___

He was right. This wasn’t the Starkiller they knew, but the Starkiller they’d both tried and failed to not dream about in the days and months after coming together on the doomed base. This was the Starkiller of their forbidden thoughts they’d only just admitted to each other- the one where no one was keeping them apart.

Ben extinguished his lighstaber and went over to Rey, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. He began carrying her back towards the base.

“What are you doing?!” 

“I’m doing what I wanted to do the moment I saw you catch that saber, what I wanted to do since the first moment I saw you.”

“Ben, wait, no, this is wrong.”

He set her down.

“Why? What’s wrong about it?”

“This place- so much happened here, so many terrible things.”

“This isn’t that place. This is a place we made together, inside our minds. Tell me you didn’t dream of being here with me, like this, just the two of us.”

Of course she had. She had dreamed of it every night after leaving him on Starkiller up until she’d seen him again in their bond. She’d tried to drive the thoughts from her mind, time and time again, but it was never any use.

Remembering all those nights of loneliness and longing turned something inside of her. What had it all been for if she couldn’t enjoy this- whatever it was they had made? They’d been through and suffered too much to not enjoy whatever nugget of impossibility the Force was now throwing at them.

Ben sensed the turn in her as she looked back up at him.

“There’s just one problem.” she smirked, “You’re not getting me that easily.” 

She ignited her saber.

“I thought you might say that.”

He ignited his saber and they were off, sparing across the snow. 

It had been months since Rey had been able to properly swing a saber. Now that she had her former body back there was nothing stopping her. She came at him with a fierceness that made her come alive, and he knew better than to hold back from her. Ben sensed her excitement and knew how much she needed this. As much as she adored the tiny lives that grew inside her physical body, having a brief moment to feel like her former self again was beyond liberating. 

They flew across the snow together like a choreographed dance. What had once been a violent struggle of two desperate people caught up in circumstances they couldn’t understand was now a harmonious ebb and flow between two souls in perfect unison. 

Finally they came to the spot where he had her up against the cliff. Rey found herself in the moment she’d dreamed about going differently so many times before, knowing she needed to hear those words from him again. 

“Say it Ben.” Rey panted, her adrenaline at an all time high. 

“Say what..." He teased, playing none the wiser. 

“You _know ___what I want to hear.” She begged as his old cross guard saber flashed and sputtered against the clear beam of the saber she held.

Finally he gave her what she wanted- his words low and promising. “You need a teacher... I can show you the ways of the Force.”

Rey immediately spun and disarmed him, extinguishing both sabers and throwing them off the cliff into the abyss below. She then grabbed his collar and pulled him to her.

“Show me.” She whispered in his ear.

Ben instantly had her back up over his shoulders as they flew together across the snow. He brought her back inside, down hallways, past doors and passages, and after what felt like forever he finally set her down in front of a very nondescript door that didn’t look like it went anywhere special. 

He typed a code into the security pad, numbers that had lived in his mind for years that he hadn’t thought about since being in that space. 

The door shot open and he took her hand, leading her inside. 

“Was this…” As Rey looked around she wasn't sure what to call it.

“This was home for more years than I’d like to remember.” Ben confirmed.

“But it’s… so small?”

“I wasn’t exactly the Supreme Leader back then.”

Rey realized the room wasn’t much more than a prison. The only things in the space were a twin bed against the wall, a small table with a chair, a closet for his robes, a door that must have gone to a bathroom, and an empty shelf that she assumed was for his helmet. 

If she never saw that thing again it would be too soon.

The dark austerity of the space made a rage flare inside Rey, rage at all of those that had taken so much from Ben for so long. She was going to take all of it back. In this place they’d created, she was going to give him a very different memory of this room. 

She looked back at the small bed. 

“I guess this will have to do.” She said smiling.

Suddenly a nervousness came over them. In reality they’d been together more times than they could count, but they weren’t in that reality they knew anymore. Being back in one of their fantasies from a time when they’d never been intimate with each other was having an effect. 

Their hearts pounded in unison in their chests. It felt like their first time all over again, but this time their adrenaline was flowing through them at a fever pitch. This time they weren’t tucked away in their safe desert hideaway. This time they were in one of the thousands of places in the galaxy that forbid them to be together. 

Ben sensed a fire inside his wife and took her in his arms. He was done waiting for this fantasy to become real.

Between frantic kissing and pulling of clothing, somehow they were able to get most of each other’s clothes off. They couldn’t wait to shed what felt like the uniforms of lives that had kept them apart. They didn’t take the time to remove things like arm wraps, just the things they needed out of the way.

The fire burning inside Rey made her take charge, pushing him over to the bed and setting him down on it. She spread is legs and knelt down between his thighs, taking his cock in her mouth. She was determined to make this just as good if not better than every fantasy he’d ever clung to during their time apart. 

Ben braced himself against the bed as waves of pleasure from her mouth overcame him. He put a hand over his mouth to stifle a moan. Old habits died hard. The feeling that they could be discovered at any moment in this room made the experience that much more exhilarating. 

He knew he wouldn’t last long like this, and the sight of her hands and mouth doing all they could to pleasure him was more than enough to make him want to do the same to her. After allowing her to pleasure him just long enough, he reached down and picked her up, carrying her over to the wall. 

“Wait, I wasn’t done yet!”

“If I let you keep going like that I would have been.”

She knew better than to complain. 

He pined both her arms against the wall and began kissing her down her neck. His large frame grinding her up against the cold wall sent shivers down her spine. He kissed down her shoulders and chest, then bent down and lifted one of her legs over his shoulder. He buried his face between her legs, delivering warm wet kisses up into her cunt that nearly made her double over. She braced herself against the wall as best she could. 

“I’m not… I’m not going to be able to stand like this…”

Both of his arms instantly had her torso pinned to the wall. He was determined to hold her up, refusing to let her collapse from the pleasure that shot through her. He smiled to himself as she put a hand over her mouth to stifle a moan. 

He leaned back for a moment and knew just what to say. 

“It’s just us now. No one’s here to hear you lose yourself. Moan as loud as you want my sweet little scavenger.”

She looked down at him wide eyed as his mouth dove back between her thighs. Had he really just gone there? Using words he’d once used as a threat to let her know it was ok to lose herself? Damn he was good.

“Ky- Ben, please, just like that-“ She looked down to see his eyes were still closed, focused on giving her what she needed. 

He hadn’t heard her slip, or had chosen to ignore it, she wasn’t sure. She’d almost called him a name she’d only ever used in her fantasies, before she knew him as Ben. 

She leaned her head back against the wall, taking in the room again as he devoured her. Being in this space with him like this- it was all so forbidden and unexplained, which was exactly what made it feel so damn good. Using the Force to take back one of the prisons that had kept them apart as their own private escape- nothing had ever felt so empowering. 

Rey braced herself against the wall and ran her fingers through his hair as his tongue took control of her cunt, bringing her to ecstasy. She let out a loud moan just like he’d told her to, echoing off the walls and down the halls of the empty base. 

She looked back down at him, pulling his hair to pull his head away from her.

“I want you to take me right here, up against the wall like this.” She didn’t have to ask twice. 

He wiped her wetness from his mouth and in an instant he had her pined back up against the wall. He grabbed her ass and lifted her, spreading her legs around him. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, holding him around the shoulders as he slid up into her. She let out another loud moan that echoed deeper into the depths of the base. It made Ben wish someone had been there to hear them, to know they were being everything that space had forbid them to be. 

Rey felt Ben’s fire growing as he thrust up into her. In that moment she knew she wanted everything from him, everything he could give her including things he may never have thought she wanted. 

She whispered into his ear. “Give me everything Ben, your love, your passion, your rage at everyone who ever kept us apart. I want you to fuck me with everything you have.”

He looked at her with a madness that somehow made sense. What they were doing was madness, every bit as much as wanting an enemy on the opposite side of a war, which is to say in their own little world they’d created, it was perfectly logical. 

He buried his face in her hair as he thrust up into her against the wall. 

He kissed her neck and his teeth grazed across her skin, teasing her with the possibility of a bite. 

He’d never done that before and she couldn’t help but love it. Feeling him lose himself on her like an animal was exactly what she’d wanted from him. 

Of course she knew he’d never do anything to hurt her, but something about being teased with the possibility of it excited her. She hadn’t been able to put it into words, but somehow she’d been able to communicate to him just what she’d wanted from him. The primal forces of the man who’d been lost to the dark side were something that had fascinated the deepest parts of her. Though he hadn’t been acting as his true self, it had brought up parts of himself that were there and used them as tools to bend him to the emperors will. Now that his soul was free of the things that had controlled him, she needed to see those parts of him set free.

The madnesss, the passion, the fire, the rage- everything that Ben Solo was became hers. She wanted nothing more than to give herself just as freely to him. There was a part of her that was equally wild and in need of liberating, and seeing him that way gave her the permission to do the same. 

Rey clawed at his back, drawing a deep hiss out of him. 

She whispered in his ear “Oh, you like it when your scavenger puts up a fight?”

She loved the feeling of teasing him back, the power she felt from it, letting him know she could use her power to resist him at any moment. 

He stared up at her with a look that let her know she’d found a part of him he’d always wanted to share with her, but had been too afraid to do so. 

She leaned back into him and whispered in his ear again. “Yes Ben, that’s what I want! The deepest, darkest parts of you. Ben, fuck me as hard as you can, with everything you have, I need it!”

Their souls merged deeper than they ever had as they pushed each other. Though they’d made love more times than they could count, their bodies had never worked together like this. This was more than just making love. It was satisfying a primal need to connect with another person on their deepest levels. They lost themselves in the ecstasy of the moment, the fantasy they’d created bringing them somewhere they didn’t know they needed. 

Ben could sense she was just as close as he was, but after all she’d just shared with him he wasn’t going to let it end that easily. 

He looked up at her, barely finding his ability to speak again. 

“Beg for it. Rey, I want you to beg for it. I’m not coming for you until you do.”

“Please Ben… give it to me… you know what I want.”

“More…”

“Give me everything, fuck me as hard as you can! I want to feel you lose yourself inside me…”

“More!”

“Godamnit Ben! I want you to explode inside me! I want to come harder on you than I ever have! Make me take all of it, fill me everything that you have!”

Ben lunged into her with one last thrust as he lost it, spilling himself inside her as she came on him with explosions of pleasure that could have decimated the planet a second time. Their final shouts of passion echoed down the hall as they collapsed into each other. Ben’s legs suddenly felt weak and he carried her over to the bed, sitting on it with Rey still in his lap. Neither wanted to disconnect just yet. 

Rey held him close as she ran her hands slowly up and down his spine, feeling aftershocks of pleasure still running through them. They closed their eyes as they embraced, not wanting the fantasy they’d just made together to end. Eventually they'd have to return to their real world, and they knew nothing would ever feel quite as exhilarating as what they’d just found together in this place. Luckily they knew they could return here whenever they wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Fans self* I promise this isn't becoming just a smut fic. This is just... a very necessary part of the story right now. The Force wills it.
> 
> If anyone knows the artist who created the image in this chapter, please let me know so I can credit them! It was shared without credit when I found it. I's such a hot image it went perfectly with this chapter.


	28. Back to Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey find themselves back in their familiar reality and try to piece together what just happened. What brought them to Starkiller comes as much of a surprise as the things they discovered about themselves there.

Rey felt the familiarity of two precious tiny lives start to glow within her. Ben instantly felt it too. They looked back up to notice the walls around them had gone white. They were back in their bed on the Falcon. 

They stared at each other for a second, the reality of what they’d just done settling it. 

“Ben that was-“

“I’m sorry if that was too much, I didn’t mean for-“

“No, Ben, that was incredible.”

His green eyes shone brighter than they ever had.

“Really? You liked that? All of it?”

“Couldn’t you tell? I know you felt how hard I came for you.”

“But that was-“ 

“I know what it was. I know exactly what that was, but it didn’t feel wrong. Did it… feel wrong to you?” She prayed she hadn’t misjudged the situation. 

“Of course not. It was perfect.”

Hearing Rey say she not only enjoyed but actually loved connecting with his darker side was the greatest relief of Ben’s life. He’d been so afraid to share those parts of himself with her. Before now he never would have believed that she could love that part of him. Now that he saw how much she did, he wondered what he’d ever been so afraid of. 

They were each other’s match in the Force, created specifically to thrive with and empower one another. It only made sense she would share the same drives and passions he did. He smiled at the thought of how she’d made him fight for her. It had been everything he’d ever dreamed about.

“Once you can use your light saber again we need to make that a regular thing. Sabers and sex. That’s the kind of training I’m here for.”

Rey laughed. “It was one of the most liberating thing’s I’ve done in a while.” 

“Wait, did you throw Luke’s off the cliff?”

Rey’s eyes went wide as she looked at him. “I- I think I did.” 

“So Luke’s light saber is off a cliff somewhere in our fantasy world and mom’s is back on Tatooine buried by itself?”

“Yes… that’s an accurate assessment.” The full reality of their world came flooding back as she realized the heat of the moment had made her throw a three generations old family heirloom of a cliff. She had to figure out how to get it back, and quickly. She closed her eyes and extended her hand, imagining Ben looking at her when he’d first caught the saber. She prayed what she was attempting to do would work. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to make it come back.”

“We’re not even sure how you summoned it in the first place.”

“Yes but I’ve done it once, so we know I can do it again.”

She closed her eyes again and pictured the saber flying into her hand, the feeling of the cold metal on her skin, the shock that moment had created, the way Ben had looked at her when it happened, the snow falling on her skin, everything about that moment she could possibly bring up to try and make it reappear.

Her hand continued reaching out and feeling nothing but the blank space in front of her. After a minute or two Ben spoke up. 

“I don’t think it’s working.”

“Yes, I realize that. I’m just trying-“ A thought struck her. “Maybe we’re both needed to do it. Did anything in any of your training ever cover summoning objects out of nowhere?”

“That definitely never came up.” 

“That could be because single Force users can’t do it. But the two of us, we’re a dyad, something not seen in the Force for thousands of years. Perhaps because of our bond we can do things together that individuals can’t do alone.”

“We were both thinking about the same moment when it flew into your hand. Do you think that’s what did it?”

“Let’s try it together. Remember everything you can about the moment you saw it fly into my hand. ”

They closed their eyes and both focused on bringing that memory back up. Their minds merged as Rey imagined the feeling of the saber flying in her hand. Ben imagined the shock of the saber flying past him as it choose Rey instead of him. He instinctively leaned back as he heard it fly into the space and land securely in Rey’s grip. 

They opened their eyes and stared in wonder at what they’d just done. As a bonded pair they could summon anything they wanted from the depths of the Force, as long as they focused on bringing it to them at the same time.

Rey had another thought. “So we can summon objects together, but what about going to Starkiller, or our version of Starkiller? That was an entire world we created just by thinking about it. We’ve talked about and remembered the same places together before and that’s never happened until now.”

“There’s only one way to find out. We can try focusing on a place together and see if we’re able to take ourselves there.” 

Rey tucked the saber into her pack for safe keeping. There was no way she was about to let herself lose it again. “So, where should we try to go?”

“Naboo? We could go see the waterfalls.”

“Perfect.” She couldn’t wait to be surrounded by the roar of enormous waterfalls again. 

They closed their eyes and let their minds merge, remembering the surroundings during their picnic on Naboo- the purple flowers that blew in the grass, the thunder of the waterfalls around them, the fresh breeze from the thousands of gallons of water that plunged over the cliffs. They focused on imagining themselves there for a couple of minutes, but felt nothing around them change. 

“It’s not working.” Rey was frustrated.

“Maybe it has to be a fantasy… Maybe it has to be something we created in our minds together.” 

“So we can summon a space we created- that might make sense.”

A mischevious smile spread across Ben’s face. “So, where else have you imagined us fucking?”

“Where have I not is more like it.”

“Really?” 

“Oh what and you haven’t? Women fantasize about sex just as much as men.”

“Fair point.” The realization about the variety within his wife’s fantasy world was a welcome one. “So, what’s your favorite? Where did you like thinking about us being together before we were able to be together in real life?” 

“Well, I don’t think I could handle another like what we just did, so we probably shouldn’t try this one just now, but truth be told my favorite place to fantasize about being with you-“ She couldn’t believe she was about to admit this. “Do you promise not to laugh or get mad?”

“Nothing about what we’re talking about could make me mad.”

“Right, well my favorite place to imagine us together was-“ She couldn’t bring herself to say it. The spot she was thinking of had created some of the hottest fantasies she’d ever had of herself with Ben. If he had the wrong reaction to it…

“Where was it? It can’t be any more out there than Starkiller.”

She closed her eyes and said it. “It was Snoke’s throne room.” 

“No way…”

She opened her eyes. He was looking back at her like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard. 

“So you too?” She smiled.

“Oh gods yes. All the time.”

“I told you I’d always wanted to take your hand. When you offered it to me it was the hardest thing I’d ever done to say no.”

“I’m glad you did. I never would have wanted us to live a life like that.”

“Still…” She felt a weight off her chest finally being able to admit this. “Imagining joining you in that moment made for some of the hottest fantasies I’ve ever had. The way it used to make me feel thinking about it, I couldn’t help myself. I knew it was wrong and yet nothing else ever worked quite like that.”

“Really?!” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

Her face suddenly felt hot realizing what she’d just admitted. “It was only a fantasy, you have to understand that. I never would have done it in real life, everything in my mind knew it was wrong but- I just, couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“No, it’s ok, don’t be ashamed of it. I know what you mean.” 

“You do?”. 

“I spent almost a decade of my life controlled by the dark side- against everything I knew as right. I know exactly how seductive it can be.”

“But that wasn’t you, that was someone else controlling your thoughts, manipulating your mind, making you do things you didn’t want to do.”

“Someone else was keeping me trapped there, that is true. I didn’t want to be there and my ability to resist was taken away from me. But the seduction was still there. It’s always there. The power, everything that comes with it- the dark side is a path to things everyone wants but knows they shouldn’t. The difference between those that fall of their own will and those that don’t is those that fall don’t care enough to see it’s wrong.”

Rey had never heard it put so simply and so clearly. Everything she’d read about the light and the dark had made the two forces sound so confusing, so mystifying. Yet Ben had just summed it up in a few sentences. 

“You’re right.” She sat thinking about what all he’d just said. “The dark side is a part of us just as much as the light. But it’s up to us to chose which side we fall on.” She had another thought. “But maybe it’s not as simple as that.”

“How do you mean?”

“What we felt for each other on Starkiller, the parts of ourselves we shared with each other, we can’t pretend like that wasn’t the dark side flowing through us.”

“That’s true.” He was glad she’d been the first to say it out loud. 

“Maybe the dark and light aren’t as simple as just being good vs. bad. Maybe there’s more to it than that.”

“I think if it were as simple as the Jedi and the Sith made it out to be they’d all still be here.”

“But we’re still here.”

“Yes…” Ben’s mind started wandering to their earlier conversation as he looked around the space they found themselves in. “We are both actually still right here.”

“That’s a good thing right?” Rey wasn’t sure what he was getting at.

“No, I mean we’ve both just been talking about how we’d fantasize about being on the Supremacy together, a fantasy we’d both created for ourselves just like we did about Starkiller, but nothing happened.”

“Oh wow, you’re right.” The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. “So something about thinking about Starkiller sent us there, but doing the same for The Supremacy didn’t.”

“Where’d you put Luke’s saber?”

“Right here…” She pulled it out of her pack. “Why?”

“This had to be what did it.”

“Why would Luke’s saber send us to Starkiller?”

“It’s the only difference between the two situations. We were transported there right after you caught it.”

“Like you said, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s try Naboo again just to check. I don’t think I’m ready to revisit The Supremacy just yet.”

“Fair enough” Ben agreed Starkiller had been enough dark side sex for one night. 

Rey held the saber out and they held it together, focusing again on their picnic spot on Naboo as they had before. She gasped as she felt a familiar misty breeze hit her face along with the roar of the falls around them. Their eyes opened to find they were sitting in the same meadow where they’d had their picnic just a few days before. 

Somehow between their bond and whatever powers were within Luke’s light saber, they were able to transport themselves anywhere in the universe that their minds could imagine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right about now is where we start diverging from canon and getting into fan theories. For those keeping notes on what is and isn't canon, the only things up to this point in the story that aren't happening in line with established canon are Ben and Rey being able to enter a fantasy of theirs as well as summoning objects as a dyad. Since sexual fantasies aren't something discussed in Star Wars and since we know next to nothing about Dyads I figured I'd take some liberty with those lol. 
> 
> The legacy saber transporting them somewhere is canon since the legacy saber is an established vergence in the Force. That's what happened when Rey had her first visions on Takodana. She was actually in those events, not just seeing them. If you watch the scene, some clues to indicate her physical presence in those events are rain and mud getting on her clothes and her hair blowing in the wind just like the younger version of herself. This was recently confirmed in the TROS visual dictionary. I highly recommend a copy of that book to anyone who hasn't read it yet. There's lots of interesting info in there. ;)
> 
> Another fun note is the black serpent Ben saw under Ahch To is canon. You'll see one come out of the water in TLJ when Rey is with Luke. There's also a sea serpent's skull under water in the cave when she dives in it, indicating they like to hang out under the island. 
> 
> Lastly on a second viewing of TROS I realized I got the ship in the final scene wrong. Rey arrives on Tatooine in the Falcon, not Red Five. Oops! That's what happens when you start writing a fic 24 hours after a movie comes out lol. Since that doesn't have much impact on the story other than logistical conversations I figure I'll wait to go back and re-write those chapters once the story is done. For now I'll keep focusing on new chapters. Speaking of which I wonder when they'll get around to seeing what that cave wants to show them...


	29. Family Heirlooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben summon the legacy saber's sibling, and with it comes an unexpected guest.

They took a few moments to take in wonder of the waterfalls around them. As much as Rey wanted to stay forever, her body and mind were both exhausted from their long day. It was getting late back on Ahch To and she was ready to collapse. Ben sensed how tired she was. 

“Ready to get back home? We can come back here whenever we want.”

“Absolutely.” She smiled at the thought of their newfound freedom. 

Back on the Falcon, she knew there was one more thing they needed to do before calling it a night. 

“We should bring your mother’s light saber back. I don’t like thinking about it sitting buried on Tatooine alone.”

“You’re right. They should be together.”

“You should be the one to do it this time though.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Of course you can. If I can do it you can.”

“No I mean I can’t summon her light saber because I’ve never held it. I don’t have a memory of holding it to use to bring it here.”

The thought broke Rey’s heart, not that it was anyone’s fault. Of course he’d never had a chance to hold it. Leia had hidden it before he was born and Rey had been the one to retrieve it and use it against the Emperor. She hadn’t thought to let him see it and hold it before burying it. Everything on Tatooine had happened so fast. She kicked herself for not thinking of that.

“But wait, we don’t need to have held something to summon it to us. We can go outside right now and summon any rock on the island we’ve never held before. We just have to see them and picture them coming to us. You’ve seen your mother’s saber so that should be enough to do it.”

Ben thought about it for a second. “I guess you’re right.”

“You could always picture me passing it to you like I did Luke’s, if that helps.”

“Let’s try it.”

They stood side by side and closed their eyes. They imagined Rey holding Leia’s saber as she had on Exegol. She reached up and put her hand behind her back, feeling it pass to Ben. Ben reached back and imagined the feeling of it materializing in his hand. They sensed the saber enter the room, and opened their eyes as Ben pulled it from behind his back.

He stared at the light saber in his hand, happy to have something that made his mother feel close back with them. 

“It’s so light, and… elegant.” He’d never held a weapon so beautiful. It was a far cry from the heavy, masculine sabers he was used to. Everything about it reminded him of her. It’s design was graceful yet practical, forged for combat yet charming and exquisite. The alternating copper and steel rings that adorned most of it along with the tapered feminine hand grips reminded him of jewelry he’d remembered her wearing when he was a child. 

“I wish I’d been able to see her use it more.”

“I’m sure that’s something we could work on.” 

“Mom!” The sound of his mother’s voice entering the room made him spin around. 

“I’m not interrupting anything am I?” That was Leia’s way, showing up when they least expected it. 

“Of course not!” Rey smiled as the three hugged. As tired as she was she was always happy to see her mother in law. “What made you want to come see us?”

“I could sense you two brought the family sabers back and figured I’d better make sure everything was ok.” 

“Everything’s fine. We just-“ Rey found herself in another situation where she didn’t know how to explain what had happened to them. This too certainly wasn’t a story for the grandchildren. 

Ben jumped in to save her. “We were talking about them, about how Luke’s had gone to Rey when we met on Starkiller, and it actually came to her in that moment. We realized we can summon objects from anywhere as a dyad by focusing on them together. Once we had his we figured we needed to get yours back to.” 

“Oh sweetheart I appreciate that. So that’s it? You two can pull things out of thin air now?”

Rey was ready to speak up again. “We did realize something about Luke’s saber. It can transport us places if we focus on a location together. Did Luke ever mention that?”

“There was something… something about our father transferring his powers to objects he’d used during his lifetime. You’d have to ask him about it. What made you realize that?”

They looked at each other, unsure how to respond. Rey figured half the truth was as good as the whole truth. “Well, we were talking about the waterfalls on Naboo and it took us there. Together.” 

“Oh, really? It sounds like you two have had a lovely evening of conversation.” A knowing grin spread across her face. She always knew when something was up. “I’ll leave you both to it then. You kids have sweet dreams.” She took Rey’s face in her hands and kissed her on the forehead. She then pulled Ben down to her level to do the same. “You’ll always be my sweet little boy.” With that she smiled and disappeared.

Ben let out a sigh. “How does she do that?”

“Know just when to show up? I don’t know much about moms but I imagine it’s an intuition.”

“So you’ll always know if our girls are up to no good?”

“Why would they be up to no good?”

“Well, if they’re anything like us…”

“Fair point.” Rey slightly cringed at the thought of their combined powers in two children every bit as wild as their parents. What had she and Ben got themselves into…

Ben sensed her anxiety and quickly changed the subject. “Let’s make a plan for tomorrow. I think it’s time we make it down to that cave.”

“Agreed.” 

“After whatever we see we can try reaching out to Luke, ask him about his saber and anything else that comes up when we’re down there.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rey was ready to finally get some answers to all they’d been going through. Exploring the cave and talking to Luke should at least get them headed in some kind of direction. Though with what she knew of the Force, answers almost always led to more questions. Whatever it was they’d find tomorrow, they’d face it together, but only after some much needed sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never liked those sabers getting left on Tatooine. After all that the previous Skywalkers suffered on that planet, I figured they deserved a more peaceful and beautiful home. 
> 
> Leia awkwardly interrupting Ben and Rey is my new favorite thing. Definitely gonna need more of that in the story... 
> 
> Sounds like Ben's a little nervous about having two girls with their parents powers and spirit? I don't blame him. 😂
> 
> Next up- Dark side cave time! Woohoo!


	30. Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey explore the island's cave together. What they find out about themselves turns out to be something they've always known, but just needed to be reminded of.

After a hearty breakfast Ben and Rey set out to explore the cave beneath the island. Rey felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest from the anticipation of what lay ahead of them. Of course Ben had sensed everything that was going through her mind.

_Don’t worry sweetheart, everything will be fine. This is exactly what we’re meant to be doing. ___

_I’ll be ok, it’s just that so much has led up to this. It feels like we’re standing in front of a door and once it's opened, we won't be able to shut it back. ___

_Whatever’s on the other side of that door, we’ll face it together. It can’t be any worse than what we’ve already faced. ___

He was right. After all they’d been through, they knew that whatever was awaiting them they were ready to take it on. 

They came to the spot where walls of dark rocks formed a basin to the opening of the cave. Ben jumped down first, and then used the Force to lower Rey to him. They both stood with their backs against the wall, looking at the round, sea grass covered opening that sprawled out before them. A mysterious and unfamiliar darkness seeped out of it just as Rey had described. She made sure to keep her mind open to Ben in case she sensed any familiar anxieties coming back. So far he felt perfectly at peace. It was all the reassurance she needed to let them keep going.

Ben slowly crept to the edge, looking down into the abyss. He turned back to face her. “Wait for me right here. I don’t want you taking a step forward until I’m ready to bring you down to me.”

“Of course. I’ll be right here.” Her heart raced as she watched him jump and disappear into the darkness below. She hated having to watch him do that. She felt him plunge into the cold water below and resurface. He was fine, she kept telling herself. Everything would be fine. 

Ben swam over to the shore of the cave, pulling himself up onto the rocks. He stood on the shore and focused on reaching out to Rey up above. Rey felt him take hold of her as she was brought to the opening. She slowly drifted down through it and over the water. Ben brought her to him on the shore, catching her in his arms. 

“This was a much more enjoyable landing than the last time I was here.” She smiled up at him, relieved to be back with him. 

“Well get used to it. I’m not letting you explore dark caves alone ever again.”

He set her down and their eyes adjusted to the shadowy space they found themselves in. They felt the Force flowing through them like a river about to break its banks. The strength of their bond echoed around them off the walls. The Force was exceptionally strong inside the cave, and their bond was interacting with it in ways they'd never felt before.

“There’s something here, something familiar.” Ben was looking around as if searching for something.

“The dark side?” Rey had been afraid of that. 

“No, that’s here, but there’s something else to it. It’s like the feeling I had when I left you on Exegol, where I was when I ran across the galaxy to find you. I feel like I’ve been here before.” 

"You think this is one of the places you came through on your way to find me?"

"It's hard to explain but, it could have been." Ben couldn't find the words to describe what felt similar about it, but somehow he knew this place was connected to whatever had brought him back. 

The two of them stepped forward in unison and reached out as a mirrored portal materialized before them, just as it had during Rey’s first visit to the cave. A thousand identical versions of themselves stretched out in front of them. Rey remembered this part well. 

"Are you seeing this?" Ben was looking behind them, stunned by what had appeared. 

Rey turned thinking she knew what to expect, and was equally shocked by what she saw. A thousand couple's faces stared back at them, but these weren't their own. At least, not as they'd known them in their current lifetime. The only two she recognized were the two standing immediately behind them. It was Ben’s grandparents, just as they’d seen in their visions. The thousands of people behind them all turned and moved in unison with them, as if they were different versions of the same two people acting as one. 

The Force began to pull them through each and every one of them. A thousand lifetimes of searching and fighting for each other flowed through their memories. A thousand identities were restored to them as they flew through what they realized were previous versions of themselves. They felt their souls fully awaken as lives long forgotten with each rebirth were returned to them. The further back they went, the further back in time they traveled. 

Something was missing though. With many of the previous reincarnations there was a part of Rey that wasn’t there that should have been. Starting with Padme, inside many of the versions of herself she went through the Force had gone quiet. Why had the Force shut itself off to her in so many of her previous lives?

Eventually they came to the final couple, or rather the first. These were the first physical forms Ben and Rey’s souls had ever taken. They were the only two that were identical in appearance to themselves in their current lifetime. Rey felt the Force return to her as she entered this body. They were bonded as a dyad as they were always meant to be. She felt an immense wave of peace as her connection with her partner was restored.

She turned to face him as all the other lifetimes behind them disappeared.

“Jeshan!” She cried out, remembering the first name she’d ever known her lover by.

“Layna!” He took her in his arms as they embraced, holding and kissing each other for what felt like the first time in thousands of years. 

She pulled pack, staring up into his familiar green eyes. 

“How is this possible?” She touched his face and ran her hands through his hair, making sure every part of him was real.

“I don’t know, somehow this cave reminded us of who we were. Who all we’ve been. How many lifetimes have we lived trying to get back to each other like this?!”

Their eyes filled with tears as they realized how much they’d been through to get to this moment. They'd lived lives in almost every corner of the galaxy, searching far and wide for each other. Sometimes they'd found each other, sometimes they hadn't, and many of the times they had found each other something had been missing or gone horribly wrong. Rey had a pretty good idea what that was, though she had no idea what had been holding them back from their connection in the Force until now.

“None of that matters now." She could barely contain herself, realizing what a miracle it was to be looking into these green eyes again. "All that matters is we’re here and we’re together, truly together as we've always been meant to be.” 

He looked up as the roof of the cave above them began to rumble. “I have a feeling there’s going to be a bit more too it than that.”

They felt themselves turn back into their current living bodies. They were Ben and Rey again, but a Ben and Rey who remembered this wasn’t their first lifetime together. 

The rocks overhead began to crumble and fall as the cave around them disappeared. Mountains and blue sky now surrounded them. The temple of Kaleth towered above them as a Hook Hawk flew in the midday sun overhead. This was the planet Tython, the first home of thousands they’d ever known together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cracks open a beer* Ok now we're getting to the good stuff.
> 
> I meant to get here in the first 10-20 chapters but these characters and this story have a life of their own. Can’t wait to see where it takes our OTP next...
> 
> For some excellent Reylo/Anidala vibes here’s the best damn Reylo video to Across the Stars I’ve ever seen. ❤️  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TdMq3mTdKR0


	31. Tython

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey are shown a period of history they've only ever known from books. Seeing their own history come to life in front of them turns out to be much harder than they expected.

Ben and Rey took in their surroundings together, completely in awe of the scene they found themselves in. It began to set in that the Tython they knew from Luke’s texts was also a very real place they’d now get to discover together. They realized their minds hadn’t been able to fully retain the memories of the thousands of lifetimes that had just flown through them. They would have to experience and remember visions of their past together. 

Kaleth had been the library of the ancient Je’daii order, Rey and Ben both remembered that much from their studies. The Je’daii had been an order of Force users that predated the Jedi or the Sith. Rey and Ben both loved studying the few surviving ancient texts that had come from that era, so it came as no surprise their shared vision of the past had brought them here. It also dawned on them there might be something more behind their love of studying ancient knowledge than just wanting to learn about the past. Rey was the first to speak up about it in their mind.

_It feels like we’ve spent a lot of time here... ___

_Absolutely. This feels as familiar as any place we’ve ever been. ___

_Not just this place, but the people here. The few couples I’ve seen walking around- we’re not the only dyad here. ___

She made sure to get a good look at the next couple that walked past them. Sure enough they had the same brilliant green eyes Ben and Rey shared. In that moment they realized their shared eye color was a sign of the completeness of their bond. Their joining together physically had been the final seal of everything that brought them together as one being in the Force. 

Much like they bond they shared, they sensed these other dyad’s bonds helped balance each other. One was always stronger with the dark, one with the light. Feeling how harmoniously these pairs lived together, Rey began to wonder why the Jedi order Luke had taught her about had shunned attachment. The notion that attachment was dangerous was in complete opposition to everything they were witnessing about people like themselves. 

The next couple they spotted was their former selves, Jeshan and Layna, walking out of the library. The sight sparked a memory of what their former roles had been. The two towers of the library separated the texts based on what aspects of the Force they’d studied. Layna was the head librarian for light, and Jeshan the dark. The thought of two whole libraries full of knowledge of the Force made their hearts swell. If only the galaxy had retained such knowledge, perhaps the endless cycle of unbalance and destruction they’d grown up in could have been avoided.

Ben and Rey watched as their former selves sat under a tree together, reading together from books they’d picked out to share with each other. Rey’s heart ached to know the kind of peaceful serenity their former selves had enjoyed together. 

The scene began to blur as they felt time around them passing swiftly. Hundreds of suns rose and fell marking the passing of years. They watched as the events of the next few years unfolded before them. 

They felt tension and conflict creep over and consume the planet. A war began to rage around them. Something had invaded the once peaceful place. The Je’daii had done all they could to repel the invaders and protect their way of life. The dyads around them started to feel tense, untrusting. Something was pulling the light and darkness apart. 

The scene slowed and Jeshan and Layna were sitting under their favorite tree again. This time they didn’t have any books with them. The war had ended but a tension still hung over the planet. 

Fear and worry filled Layna’s eyes as she spoke with Jeshan. “You’re not really thinking of joining them, are you?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice at this point. It’s just while we all figure out how to restore the balance. We all want the same thing, for things to go back to how they used to be.”

“Yes but these new factions, something isn’t right about it. Why would we be dividing up amongst ourselves if we’re supposed to be working on restoring balance and unity?”

“The light want to protect and help those who’ve been hurt by the darkness of war and the dark want to make sure the dark isn’t lost while the light is brought back. Joining is the only way to make sure things go the way we want them to go. If I don’t join Master Rajivari, there’s a chance the dark could be lost forever.”

“I understand, I know this is about something bigger than ourselves. Just please Jeshan, be careful. I sense there’s something that’s not right about all of this.”

“I promise sweetheart, there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll make it right.”

The scene blurred and time began to fly past them again. Fighting had broken out again, but this time it was amongst the Je’daii. The light and the dark were fighting each other, unable to restore the balance they’d hoped for. 

The next scene found Jeshan and Layna in their hut. Layna was pleading with Jeshan to leave the planet with her, but Jeshan was worried about leaving his brothers and sisters in the darkness.

“They’re my family Layna, just like the light are yours. I can’t leave them. I have to go to them one last time, try to make them see sense. Hopefully I can save a few of them from making a terrible mistake.”

“Don’t do this, _please. ___" Layna begged. "It’s too dangerous. So much has happened, no one trusts each other anymore. Several dyads have already broken apart. This is getting very serious.”

“I’m sure if I can just talk with them they’ll listen. They’ve gathered at Kaleth, that’s a good sign right? They’re looking to knowledge to figure out what to do next.”

Layna paused before what she said next. It was everything she'd feared for some time but been to afraid to say. “I don’t get the feeling they’re at Kaleth to study... No one does. Light users have already been talking about organizing to fight against them.”

“We can’t know their intentions yet, I at least have to try and stop this." Jeshan did his best to smile as he reassured her. The last thing he wanted was for her to see how scared he was, as illogical as it felt."I promise if I go to them and there’s nothing I can do to make them see sense I’ll leave. They’re my family. I _know ___they’d never hurt me. If there’s nothing I can do I’ll come right back and we’ll leave the planet together. Either way, I’ll come back for you sweetheart, I _promise. ___”

The scene blurred as hours passed. When time resumed it's normal speed again it was late at night and Layna was still waiting for Jeshan to return. She paced around the hut, anxiously waiting to sense or hear something from him.

Rey sensed this wasn’t going to end well and grabbed hold of Ben’s hand. Part of her didn’t want to keep watching the scene unfolding before them, but part of her knew they had to. The Force needed them to remember this. Ben pulled her too him and wrapped his arms around her as they watched together. He too had sensed what was coming wasn’t good. 

Suddenly Layna grabbed her chest as she cried out “No… NO!” She sensed something had gone horribly wrong. She ran outside the hut and collapsed to her knees as she felt Jeshan’s life force slip away from him. People he’d considered his brothers and sisters had turned on him and killed him the moment he’d tried to make them see there was a better path than the one they were choosing. 

Layna’s hands gripped at her heart as she felt her soul broken in two. “Jeshaaaaan!!! Noooooo!” Her screams brought several of her neighbors out of their hut.

“Layna, dear gods what what is it?”

“They’ve- they’ve killed him!” She could barely get the words out between sobs. “His brothers and sisters in the dark, he went to- oh gods no!” She stumbled to her feet to try and run to the temple but her neighbors held her back, telling her it was too dangerous, that there was nothing she could to do save him from what had happened. 

She fought them until what little strength she had left gave out, then collapsed on the grass in a heap of sobs. 

Tears streamed down Rey’s face as she remembered the pain of losing her partner for the first time. It had felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. A gaping wound had been left in her soul, one she’d known would never heal. Ben held her as she turned to sob into him. 

“We can go if this is getting to be too much.” he said, holding her close to him. 

“I’ll be ok, I just, I need a minute....”

“Take your time, this is a lot.” He ran his fingers through her hair, trying to help soothe her as she cried into him. A part of him was thankful the Force hadn’t shown his previous death to them. He didn’t know if either of them would have been able to handle that. 

After a minute or two Rey caught her breath and spoke up.

“I’ll be ok... it was just the memory of it, it was so... _overwhelming. ___" She paused as she continued processing all they'd just seen. "I guess when I told you before I couldn’t go through losing you again, I didn’t know how many times we’d lost each other.”

Ben tried not to think about how many times that had really been. How many times he’d left her... how many times he'd been the one to lose her. He knew they wouldn’t be bringing those memories up if they could avoid it. 

“Are you sure you’re going to be ok?” He finally asked.

“Yes, I’ll be fine." She took a deep breath and centered her thoughts. "The Force wants to show this to us so we need to see it. Just… hold me while we watch this. I need you to get through this.”

“Of course. I'm right here”

She turned to face the scene again as he wrapped his arms around her. They watched together as the Force showed them the rest of what it needed them to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The unfortunate thing about re-living history is it's rarely ever uplifting. Luckily for them the Force has a light at the end of the tunnel it's sent them down. Actually light might not be the correct word for it...


	32. Missing Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey continue to watch what the Force has been meaning to show them. They find out something has been hidden under their noses all this time, which brings with another surprise for Rey.

Rey and Ben watched together as Rey’s former self mourned the loss of her other half. Days flew by as the world around her collapsed into chaos. One morning she woke to the smell of smoke. She ran outside to see Kaleth billowing out towers of black smoke that reached up to the heavens. 

Light users had attacked the library she and Jeshan had made their life’s work. They’d overcome the dark users who’d taken it as a fortress. Many lives had been lost, and in the process the countless texts inside had gone up in flames. Thousands of years worth of Force knowledge had been erased in a matter of hours. It felt like another part of her soul had died.

Layna sat weeping in front of her hut as everything she knew and loved slipped away from her. Rey wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. 

Just as it felt like all had been lost, a thought struck Layna. A fierce determination came over her that gave her the strength to wipe her tears and return to her hut. There was still one very small part of her world that hadn’t been taken from her. 

On their desk sat a stack of books. They were texts Jeshan was always meaning to take back to the library but kept forgetting to do so. He’d read just about every text in the tower of dark knowledge and these were his favorites. Whereas Layna always returned each text she borrowed as soon as she was done with it, Jeshan somehow always found a reason to hold on to these. She would always get on to him about returning them, and there was always something that made him want to study them one more night. In the end his stubbornness to return them had saved his favorite texts. 

She gathered them up into her pack and slipped away, taking a long route through the forests to Vur Tepe, the forge of the Je’daii. With war ravaging the planet those arming themselves had taken most of the materials, but there was just enough steel remaining for her to construct a box large enough to seal the books inside for safekeeping. 

She returned to her hut and quickly gathered up what few things she needed to leave. She then went to the huts of her neighbors to see who still remained. 

“We’re leaving in an hour. The ship for Ossus has already left. We've chartered a ship headed for Ahch To. It's further out, we figure it will be safer. You’re more than welcome to join us if you’d like.”

It was all she needed to hear to know Ahch To would be her new home. 

The scene around them began to blur as the blue sky above them faded to dark. Ben and Rey were back inside the cave on Ahch To. For a moment they thought their vision of the past had ended, until they heard footsteps behind them. They spun around to see Layna standing behind them with the metal box that contained Jeshan’s texts. A pile of boulders that had once been to the left of them had disappeared. Layna set the box down against the bare rock wall, kissing the outside of it as tears fell down her face. Her next words gave Ben and Rey chills.

“Someday sweetheart, we’ll be back here. We’ll make it right, together. I believe that.”

She used the Force to bring up tons of boulders from the ocean floor. She stacked them on top of the box so that it was completely hidden. Anyone else who’d entered the cave would have just seen a pile of enormous rocks. 

The cave walls disappeared and they found themselves standing up on the rock cliff outside of the island temple. Layna was on the rock seat meditating. They could both sense her thoughts were on Jeshan and all she had lost. It had all been too much to bear. She couldn’t go on with the wound she carried after losing him. In that moment she said her goodbyes to the Force and cut herself off from it, shielding herself from the pain of existing as half of a broken dyad. 

The scene around them went dark again and they were back in the cave. This time it was just the two of them. Their vision into the past had come to an end. 

Rey immediately turned to Ben and wrapped her arms round his neck. They stood in silence as she held him close for what felt like an eternity. 

He rubbed her back as he whispered in her ear exactly what she needed to hear. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere. We promised each other we were in this together and that’s how it’s going to be.”

She looked up into his eyes and somehow she knew this time, he was right. After all they’d been through this was it, this was their time to make it right.

“The texts!” She blurted out, spinning around looking at the pile of boulders. “Ben we have to find them!”

Ben used the Force to knock all of the boulders away and into the water with one move of his hand. There before them sat the ancient box Rey’s former self had left for them thousands of years ago.

The words entered their minds simultaneously.

_In the serpents layers they will find the missing pieces of the master’s work. ___

This was the rest of what they were meant to find. 

Rey and Ben knelt in front of the box. There was a dial with numbers on the front which Layna had crafted to lock the contents inside. Rey spun the dial to a series of numbers she remembered from a thousand lifetimes ago. 

The lock clanked to an open position. They both slowly lifted the lid together as the screech of ancient hinges echoed off the cave walls. Inside, nine dark sacred texts stared back at them- texts that had waited to be rediscovered for thousands of years. 

Rey was astounded by what they found themselves looking at. These were definitely dark side texts. They had a feeling about them that was entirely different from those she’d studied. The lettering on the outside resembled the markings she’d seen on the Sith dagger from Pasaana.

“I didn’t think I’d be reading one of these again.” Ben picked one of them up, studying it’s condition and checking to see that it’s pages were still in readable shape.

“Reading what again?”

“Ancient Sith”

“You can read ancient Sith?”

“What do you think I studied to find the holocron to Exegol?”

Rey was stunned. Of all the surprises Ben had had for her in their time together, the ability to read ancient Sith was a huge one. She’d gone through so much to get the inscription on the dagger translated, and here he was able to read the forbidden characters like a second language. 

“So you have more of these somewhere?”

“Not anymore. They were on my ship which is long gone. When I came back to the light I thought I’d never need them again.”

A thought struck Rey about what all they’d just seen.

“I guess they’re not really ancient Sith though are they?”

“No... just what came to be known as Sith.”

“Maybe it’s time we set the record straight on that.”

Ben looked at her, processing what she was saying. 

“I think you’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Let the past die, kill it if you have to.”
> 
> Or, bring back to life the truth of what was lost. ❤️


	33. Grimtaash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey take the long way back up the island to talk about all they've seen. Their route leads to another discussion which Rey has been avoiding for some time.

Ben and Rey decided to take the long way back. The tide had been low enough to swim to the opening and walk safely out onto the beach, and they had a lot to talk about before getting back to their friends. They walked along the grassy shore, using their bond to float the box of sacred texts behind them. 

“Who should we tell first?” Of all the things they’d shared with their friends and family, Rey knew this would come as the biggest shock.

“It’s almost lunch time so Rose, Finn and Chewie should be back at the Falcon. Tonight we can tell mom and… Luke…”

The thought dawned on them simultaneously as they stopped in their tracks. They stared at each other for a moment, waiting to see who’d be the first to say it. Rey knew she’d better be the one to do it. 

“Your grandparents, Padme and Anakin. We saw they were our most recent life together. Leia and Luke were our…”

“Our children?” Ben stared blankly at the ground as his mind filled with all that that meant. 

“We don’t have to tell them right away if you’re not ready.”

“No, we should, the sooner we get it out there the better.” He stared out at the ocean, trying to wrap his mind around what all they would tell them.

“They’re going to have a lot of questions.” 

“Most of which we can’t answer just yet.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand. One way or another, they’ll have to understand. They’ve spent far more time on the other side than we have-“

“That they remember.”

Rey realized he was right. “Right, they can remember more time on the other side than we can at this point. Goodness, this is complicated.”

“We’ll just tell them everything we know, and explain there’s a lot we still don’t know that we’ll have to work on finding out. That’s all we can do right now.”

“Of course, that is all we can do.” Rey smiled, taking Ben’s hand as they resumed their walk up the shore. There was still so much they wanted to figure out but she knew it wouldn’t happen over night. She was so thankful to have Ben there with her in all of it. He was always able to put things into perspective for her when it felt like their world was getting too overwhelming. 

They rounded a cove and were met with a sight Rey had totally forgotten about. Her stomach dropped realizing what they’d just walked up on.

“Is that-“ Ben was stunned by what he was seeing. 

“Yes, that’s the Whisper.”

“You mean what’s left of it! Gods I totally forgot you took it when you left the Death Star.” He was already looking over it, trying to figure out how it got in such rough shape. “What happened?! You’re a better pilot than this... Did one of the systems fail during landing?”

She realized she’d never told him about that small part of her journey between the Death Star and Exegol, the part she’d tried to forget. She hadn’t wanted to think about how close she’d come to giving up, not just on herself but on their destiny together.

“Ben, before I tell you what happened, you have to understand - I’d just seen myself and you on the Dark Side. It was the lowest moment of my life, or the lowest moment of this one at least. I thought coming here and cutting myself off from the galaxy was the only way to stop that from happening. I thought I’d failed to save you from the dark side, and that the only way we could be together was if I joined you and we became something horrible together. I couldn’t let that happen.”

He looked back at her, wondering why she’d waited so long to tell him this.

“I wanted nothing more than to be with you, but knew it could never be like that. I knew if we both fell to the dark together it would take us somewhere terrible. It would make us the worst versions of ourselves imaginable. I couldn’t let that happen. I love you too much to let that happen. At that point I didn’t see any other way that we could be together. I realized I’d rather us not be together than join you on a path that was hurting you.”

“So… what did you do?” Ben was trying to understand what she was getting at. 

“I came here on the Whisper and I set fire to it to trap myself here. I wanted to make sure I could never leave this place, that even if I had a moment of weakness I wouldn’t do something I’d regret. As I was throwing wood on it to burn it Luke appeared. He caught his saber as I tried throwing it in the fire with the ship.”

“Good call Luke.” Ben smiled.

Rey went on. “He and I talked for a while. He explained how running away for him had been a mistake, how the galaxy calls on us to fulfill certain destinies and avoiding it only prolongs the inevitable, or in his case made things worse. He felt so guilty about all that had happened to you.”

“Yeah, we talked a lot about it on Tatooine.”

“You know as well as I do how much he regretted that. After talking with him I realized he was right. My only choice was to go to Exegol and face Palpatine. I took the wayfinder from the Whisper and used Luke’s x-wing he’d abandoned here to fly there.” A smile came over her as she remembered what happened next. “In the middle of all that horror, as I thought I was facing my end alone, there you were. Not Kylo, but my Ben, coming to join me just like I’d always dreamed about. Everything I’d been afraid of happening suddenly vanished. We were finally together as we were meant to be.”

A funny smile came over Ben’s face as he realized the irony. “So I have Luke to thank for everything good that’s happened to us? He’s the reason you came back and we’re here getting our happily ever after together?”

“I guess you’re right. Funny how things work out like that.” 

Ben looked back at the heap of burnt, twisted metal in front of them, remembering just how differently his life could have gone. 

“The Whisper, what a terrible name for a ship.”

“You didn’t name your own ship?”

“Hux and Pride named everything. It was their petty way of pretending like they had control over everything. I honestly didn’t have it in me to care at that point.”

Rey’s heart hurt thinking about the kinds of people Ben had lived with for so long. 

“What would you have named it if you had the choice?”

“I never really thought about it. If I had the choice I wouldn’t have been in the First Order flying a tie fighter.”

“Fair point.” Rey thought of how to phrase the question differently. “If you’d been living another life and had a ship all your own, what would you name it?”

Ben didn’t have to think about it. “Grimtaash. That was my first starship when I left home. I wonder whatever happened to it…”

“Grimtaash? What does that mean?”

“Grimtaash was from Alderaanian mythology. He was said to protect the royal family from corruption and betrayal. He's one of the holograms on the dejarik up on the Falcon. Remind me to point him out next time we play with Chewie.”

“You named your first starship after a god who protects people from evil?”

The irony hit both of them. 

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

Rey looked back at the box of texts they had with them, then took Ben's hand again to continue their walk.

“Speaking of the Falcon, let's get these back up there. It's clear we have a lot to learn from them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently read a snippet about Ben's old starship and it's mythological name and I had to include it. He is the biggest nerd and I love him for it.


	34. Old Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey fill everyone in on what they saw in the cave. Their conversation with Luke and Leia doesn't go how they expected, but turns out to be exactly what they needed.

During lunch Finn, Rose, and Chewy sat listening to all Rey and Ben had to tell them from their time in the cave. After all they’d heard about their adventures in the Force so far, this was only the most recent chapter in a long line of otherwise unbelievable stories. 

“Let me get this straight.” Finn tried to piece it all together. “You two have lived a bunch of lifetimes before, and they all lead back to trying to fix what went wrong in the first one- when the Force was split in two?”

“Right” Rey was glad some of it had made sense.

Finn went on. “So now you’re back together as a whole dyad you’re going to build a library together?”

“Not exactly. Maybe someday, but we’re no where near that point right now. We were caretakers of a library in our first life together. It was destroyed by war, but a few texts survived. Right now we just want to work on reading the nine texts we’ve found.”

“Gotcha. And your former selves- Jacen died in the war and Layna hid his texts in the cave which you just found?”

Rey corrected him again. “Jeshan, and yes. These texts were hidden thousands of years ago and have waited for us to find them again.”

“Well that’s pretty cool!” Rose was the only one who didn’t seem bewildered by all she’d just been told. “What makes these books so special?”

“That’s where it gets interesting.” Ben had been looking forward to this part. “Rey’s texts are all texts saved from the light side of the library. The texts we just found were from the dark side. With information on both sides of the Force, we should be able to get a better picture of how the Force works and how we can restore true balance.”

Rose looked skeptical “But the dark side… that’s-“

Rey reassured her friends. “I know what it sounds like. We’ve always thought of the dark side as evil and the light as good, but the more the Force shows us the more we’re learning it’s not as simple as that. Everyone has a little of both inside. Balancing the two appears to be the true path to peace.”

A thought struck Finn. “So if they’re Sith texts, does that mean they’re written in Sith? How will you read them?”

“Well…” Rey smiled looking at Ben. “Luckily we have someone here who can do that.”

Finn, Rose, and Chewie stared at Ben speechless.

Feeling on the spot Ben spoke up. “It’s not really Sith if we’re being historically accurate. It’s a language dark side Je’daii used which they took and continued to use after they split off and became Sith.“

Finn suddenly smiled. “Man, I can’t wait for Poe to hear about all this.”

“Speaking of Poe where is he? Shouldn’t he be getting here soon?” Rey was anxious to hear back from their friend, not to mention get started on building actual homes for themselves. After having an entire homestead to themselves for months, living out of the Falcon with three other people was starting to get a little cramped. 

Finn filled her in. “I just talked to him this morning. Supposedly he’s been held up in the capital, and he’ll be here at the start of next week. I got the feeling he’s been working on getting someone to come with him. I’ll give you one guess who it is.”

“Who?” Rey couldn’t imagine who he’d trust with such a top secret mission. 

A huge smile broke out on Rose’s face. “Oh that’s riiiiight…. You two have been out of the loop since the war ended. Well, let’s just say he’s been going out of his way to make sure Zori is around at all times.”

Rey smiled “I thought I sensed some past history there.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “They 100% deserve each other if we’re being honest. They’re two of the most strong willed people I’ve ever met and yet I’ve never seen two people more unwilling to admit they’ve got a thing for each other. It’s pretty clear he left Kijimi in a hurry back in the day and she’s making him regret every second of it, which, somehow, he loves.”

“Well that should be fun to watch.” Rey couldn’t wait to witness the tension between Poe and the mysterios spice Runner they’d met on Kimji. Having another woman around would be a welcome change as well. She and Ben had their work cut out for them with all the Force had put on their plate, and a little matchmaking in their spare time would be a welcome diversion from all that lay ahead of them.

*****

Later that afternoon Ben and Rey sat next to each other on the steps in the temple, preparing themselves to talk to Luke and Leia.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Rey sensed a nervousness in Ben which was totally understandable. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Rey took his hand and they called out to them in the Force together. The twins appeared before them, happy to see them as always. 

Luke was the first to speak. “You two have been up to a lot today. The Force on the island feels like it’s about to burst. What’s been going on?”

Leia sensed something was off and noticed Rey was starting to tear up.

“Oh sweetheart what is it? Are you two ok? Are the babies ok?”

“We’re fine” Rey fought to hold back tears. “The babies are fine, it’s just-“

Rey looked to Ben, suddenly unable to get the words out. He understood and spoke up for both of them. 

“Rey and I went down to the cave today.”

“You did what?!” Luke was shocked. “That cave is filled with the dark side. Rey, after everything I warned you about in your training, the way it called to you, not to mention all that Ben’s been through, what were you two thinking?”

“No, Luke it’s not like that.” Rey found her voice again. “The cave is what brought Ben and I together, it led me to him, to the first time we touched hands. That’s when I saw the goodness still in him. If not for that cave he wouldn’t be standing with us here today.”

Luke and Leia stood silent, contemplating what Rey was saying. 

She went on. “That’s not why we called on you today though. This time when we went down there together, it showed us something else. Not who we are now, but who we’ve been before. Our lifetimes before this one.” She looked back up at Ben, sensing he should be the one to tell them. He understood immediately. 

As he was about to speak he remembered something Rey had told him about his grandparents, when Luke and Leia had stopped seeing and sensing them in the Force. Suddenly it all made sense… he wondered why it had taken them so long to see it. 

“We saw the reason why your father stopped appearing to you, why you stopped sensing your mother.”

Luke and Leia looked at each other, then back at Rey and Ben. 

Leia’s voice was almost a whisper. “What… what did you see? Why did they stop coming to us?”

Ben figured he’d better lead them to it, rather than come right out and say it “Well, your father stopped appearing around the time I was conceived right?”

“I guess that lines up.” Luke didn’t follow what he was getting at. “But how would that...”

“And mom, you stopped sensing your mother when I was nine or ten years old, right?”

“Yes, Ben how did you know that?“

“Do you both know how old Rey is?”

They stared back at Ben blankly, unable to imagine the possibility of the point he was making. He realized he’d have to spell it out for them. 

“Your parents stopped appearing to you in the Force because their sprits weren’t in the Force anymore. They’d returned to this world as living beings. If you went back and checked, you’d realize your father disappeared nine months before I was born, and your mother did the same nine months before Rey was born.”

Luke and Leia’s eyes went wide as the realization of what he was saying began to set in. 

“Ben, no, you can’t mean-“ Leia struggled to find the words. 

“It’s true.” Rey nodded as tears spilled down her cheeks. “This isn’t the first lifetime Ben and I have shared. It’s one of thousands. Our most recent lives before this one, we were born Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala- your parents.”

“Wait…” Luke was looking at them like they’d started speaking a language he didn’t understand. “How can that be? I knew my father, I know his presence well, why wouldn’t I recognize you if that were true?”

Ben wasn’t sure how to answer that. “There’s a lot we still have to learn about all of this. We’re not really sure how it works yet . All we know is both of us have been having visions of their memories for months now. That’s why Rey asked you about what we’d seen back on Tatooine. She wanted to know why the Force would show those things to us. We even saw one on Naboo last week. Then when we went in the cave, it showed us all of our previous selves. It started with your parents and went through a thousand generations of people. The visions we saw on Tatooine and Naboo weren’t visions someone was sharing with us, they were our own memories.”

Luke and Leia looked at each other, unsure what to think. It was a lot to come to terms with- that the boy they’d both watched grow up had in a previous lifetime been their own father. 

Leia was afraid to ask what had come to mind, but knew she had to. “Did you two- did you see any of your previous life? Did you learn anything about them, who they were?”

Knowing what Rey knew of Vader she understood her fear. “No, it didn’t show us anything about them this time. We saw another lifetime which we’ll tell you about later. It’s a lot to get into. We just wanted to make sure you two knew that your parents didn’t abandon you. All this time, though none of us knew it, we were right here.”

Leia began to tear up as well as she realized what all that meant. “So you two never left, you- you came back for us?!”

Rey smiled. “We don’t really understand it yet, but it certainly appears that way.”

“Wait-“ Luke spoke up again. “What Leia said about us never sensing it- she knew our mother's presence well too, but she never sensed anything about you either. Shouldn't there have been some familiarity there? 

Rey tried to answer that as best she could. “We’re not really sure how it all works. We’re still just Ben and Rey, in this lifetime at least. We don’t remember anything about our past lives other than the few memories we’ve had that we mentioned. All of our previous memories flew through us as the Force showed us who we were, but none of it stuck. Our minds felt like a machine passing information through from one place to another. Afterwards it let us see some memories from our first life together. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to learn more about who we were as Padme and Anakin as well.”

Leia and Luke looked at each other, realizing what a hard road lay ahead of Ben and Rey when it came to learning about their past selves. What Leia said next surprised Rey. 

“When you do get into it, know that we’re here for you- whatever you need. Don’t be afraid to come to us with questions. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of our own questions about what you see as well. This is going to be unlike anything any of us have ever faced, and the only way you two will get through it is knowing to ask for help when you need it.”

Ben and Rey looked at each other, unsure what else to say. They’d envisioned this conversation going a lot differently than it had. They’d expected Luke and Leia to have so many questions for them. Their biggest fear was their roles would be reversed, that they’d look to them as parents instead of who they still were in this lifetime- the children they’d raised into adults that still very much needed their mentors. In that moment they realized how lucky they were to have family who understood them so well. 

Leia looked up at Ben as a thought struck her. “You know who did sense it? What you said about how you two have lived so many lifetimes before… We may have missed it but there’s one person who knew you well enough to see it.”

Ben was afraid to ask. “Who?”

Leia’s voice cracked as she got the words out. “Your father.” She smiled up at her son as her words washed over him. “When you were a baby, Han was always talking about what an old soul you were. He'd say 'I've been all around this galaxy and I know an old soul when I see one.' I thought it was just an expression. Then one time when you were a toddler, you’d just woken up from a nap and were in a hell of a mood. You were cutting a tooth and wouldn’t stop screaming. When you were in those moods you’d only settle down for him. So he took you and when he finally got you quiet, he looked at me and said ‘Do you ever get the feeling he’s been waiting around thousands of years to get here?’ I had no idea what he was talking about. After what you just told me though… it makes a lot of sense.”

“Oh, mom…” Leia hugged Ben as he wiped tears from his eyes. 

Rey could sense Leia’s words had set in for Luke. He was suddenly coming to terms with the fact that everything they were saying was true. 

“How am I always the last to know about what the Force is up to in this family?”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. It had been the last thing she’d expected him to say. She smiled realizing it was the perfect moment to give some of his own wisdom back to him. 

“A mentor once told me- The Force will tell you all you need to know, whenever it feels like getting around to it of course. It has a way of doing that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Little Ben looked up groggily, those dark eyes settling on Han, studying him. Han had no idea how a two-year-old could have such ancient eyes. It was as if Ben had been waiting around for a millennium to show up at just this moment in history." -The Last Shot by Daniel Jose Older  
>    
>    
> Sorry this update took an extra day! As we're getting into the heavier stuff I want to make sure I get these chapters just right before posting. Sometimes a chapter needs an extra day to marinate. I'd rather get it just right and make sure the story stays on track rather than rush to get stuff out and mess it up. For everyone who's still reading along, I hope you're enjoying it! We've got a lot of adventures to look forward to with our crew...
> 
> Also anyone catch Finn's slip on Ben's old name? I didn't realize how closely I'd named him to an old legends character until after I wrote the cave chapter. Once I realized it I wanted to kick myself for not seeing it. Funny how our minds play tricks on us like that...


	35. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is intrigued by all that the dark texts have to tell them about the Force. She begs Ben to help her try some of it, to which he reluctantly agrees.

Over a week had passed since Ben and Rey had started studying the new texts they’d found. Rey had originally wanted to wait until R2 got there to scan the pages so they could study from digital copies, but with Poe taking his time she’d lost patience. They figured a week of reading them couldn’t do too much harm.

Having light and dark texts to study side by side gave Rey and Ben huge insights into the Force that neither of them had ever had the opportunity to see before. They’d only studied texts from one aspect at a time, and had never been able to see how the texts paralleled each other. They couldn’t believe how well the two sets of texts worked in harmony. The significance of the fact that Rey had started with nine light texts and they’d discovered nine dark texts wasn’t lost on them either. It felt as if the Force had intended for these 18 texts to come together at just this moment in time. 

While a light text would cover the dangers of losing ones self through attachment, a dark text would cover the strengths and power that came from attachment. While a dark text would cover the importance of ambition for achieving ones goals, a light text would cover the need for selflessness and care for others. They contradicted and complimented each other in a way that made it clear that only studying one side of the Force was only getting half of what was needed to see the whole picture. The more they read to each other, the more they realized the Force was telling them they needed to master both the light and the dark in order to truly understand it. 

What came as the biggest surprise to Rey was how much the dark texts emphasized the need for feeling and understanding the power of one’s emotions. All of her studies of the light had told her to control and calm her emotions, yet dark users gained their power from experiencing emotions to their fullest extent. The idea wasn’t a new one to Ben. It had been central to his teachings under Snoke. If anything Rey sensed he might have been trying to avoid where he knew it would lead them. It took Rey a couple of days to get up the courage, but she was finally able to ask him about it. 

“Ben, what do you think about working with me on some of the teachings about emotions that the dark texts talk about? Bringing up strong feelings, working on harnessing them to draw power from them?”

He looked at her unsure what to say. He’d been wondering when that would come up. 

“I think we should read a little more about it before jumping right into it. It’s pretty intense and there’s a lot that can come up from it.”

She could sense his hesitation. “Please Ben, I’ve been meditating on calm and control for as long as anyone can. The idea that emotions can be used to gain power, it’s all totally new to me and I’m ready to try something different.”

He sensed her excitement, and was worried she didn’t know what she was getting into. “I know it sounds exciting to draw power from something but there’s things about you, about both of us it will bring up. Things can go wrong if you’re not careful.”

“What could possibly go wrong?”

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. He couldn’t believe she’d asked that. 

“Ok, point taken, but remember you’re not trapped in the place you were when you first studied the dark side. You’re free of that life and you have me with you now. You and I are meant to balance each other, right? Reading about it is one thing, but to understand it we need to try it. Together. Of course if you’re not ready to try it again I totally understand, you’ve got every right to wait until you’re ready to dive into these practices again.” She paused considering her next words carefully. “I don’t get the feeling your hesitation is about you though. I can tell when you’re worrying about me.”

He hated how well she was able to do that. She always knew when he was holding back because of her. 

Rey went on. “I just don’t want you to worry about me or not do it because you’re worried something will go wrong on my end. I promise you, I’ll be fine. I can handle whatever the Force wants us to discover together.”

He could tell she wasn’t going to be swayed on this and tried to think of another way to talk her out of it. Before he had the chance to she knew just what to say get him on her side. 

“Of course, if you’d rather I try it alone…”

“Absolutely not.” There was no way he was letting her attempt to bring up the dark side alone. “Ok, we’ll do it your way. Let’s head up to the temple.” He sighed, knowing he’d lost this one before it started. Though they were each other’s match, he was no match for when she had her mind set on something. What Rey wanted, Rey always got. 

“Do we have to go up to the temple? It’s such a nice day out. Why don’t we go work out in the plaza in the village?”

“Trust me, we’re going to want very solid walls around us when we do this. I’d like to avoid blowing up anymore huts if possible. 

“Ohhhh this should fun.” Rey was practically giddy.

Just as Ben feared, she had no idea what she was getting into.

*****

Up at the temple Ben and Rey sat on their mats facing each other. A month ago Ben never would have pictured himself leading Rey in dark side teachings, yet after all that had happened here they were. 

“Let’s get started. What do I need to do first?” Rey’s eagerness was adorable and slightly unsettling at the same time. 

“We’ll start with the emotion we’ll be focusing on. Of all the emotions, anger is the easiest to draw power from.”

“Really?” Rey was surprised they’d be starting with a negative emotion. It was a reminder she was venturing into unknown territory. 

“Yes, all the emotions have different levels of power and anger is the most powerful one. That’s why it’s referred to as a path to the dark side. Dark side users use anger the most since it gives them their greatest abilities.”

“Fascinating.” Learning about the dark side felt like learning to speak a new language for Rey. It was the opposite of everything she’d ever been taught about in the Force. “So am I going to have to get angry?”

Ben stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out if she was serious. “Yes, honey you’re going to have to get angry.”

“Ok, I can do this.” Rey centered herself and tried to think about something she was angry about. She twisted her face up in frustration and let out a loud sigh. “I’m really mad at Poe that he isn’t here yet. We NEED R2 to scan those pages and until he gets here we’re just being held up on how much reading and translating we could be doing. It’s so annoying.” She looked back up at Ben to see if she was on the right track.

“…That’s it?”

“What’s it?”

“That’s all you’ve got? You’re mad because R2 isn’t here yet?”

“Well, yeah it is really frustrating.”

This was going to be harder than Ben had expected. She’d been studying the light for so long she’d completely repressed the part of herself that was able to intentionally bring up strong negative emotions. As much as he didn’t like it, he might to have to lead her through it to get her to a place of intense anger. Pushing someone to that place wasn’t pleasant, both for the teacher and the student. He figured he’d give her a couple more chances before leading her through it. 

“What else can you think of? Try to think of that one thing in the back of your mind that you just want to scream at someone about but know you shouldn’t.”

She looked up excited. “OH! I know! I hate how Finn keeps running through the hot water in the morning. He gets up earlier than everyone else and takes the longest showers and by the time I’m ready for a shower the tank is almost empty and there’s barely any left. It’s the worst!”

“Ok… that’s still pretty weak.”

“Well? I haven’t really had a reason to be angry at anyone recently.”

“Hmmmm not buying it.”

“What?”

“We can always find reasons to get angry at someone. Every emotion we have is existent within us at all times. The more unpleasant or unhealthy an emotion is, the deeper it’s buried. We just have to identify them and draw them up.”

“What about something I was angry about in the past? I could think about Palpatine or Snoke or...”

“No, past anger doesn’t work as well. It should be something current. Trying to bring up past emotions is like trying to eat food that’s been frozen for too long. It’s never going to be as good.”

“Well, what have I had to be angry about?” 

“You’ve been living in close quarters with four people and there’s nothing you’re even slightly mad about?”

“I mean I told you the hot water thing is really annoying.”

Ben sighed. As much as he hated it, it was becoming more clear he was going to have to lead her through this. 

“What about at me?”

“You? Why would I be angry at you?”

“When you love someone you feel your strongest emotions for them. Everything is multiplied. Don’t be afraid of it. The stronger the feeling, the more power you’ll gain from it. Search your true feelings. Try and find something deep in your mind that you’ve been mad at me about. You don’t have to say it out loud, just feel it and focus on it. Encourage those thoughts and see where it takes you.” He could sense Rey was starting to feel uncomfortable. Rather than going deeper as he was encouraging her to, walls we’re going up in her mind to prevent her from going where she needed to go. “If you don’t want to do this you don’t have to. We can stop right now.”

Rey was adamant. “No, this is something I really want to do. I just, there’s nothing I’ve been really mad at you about. We’re happy together and we have everything we’ve ever wanted.”

“And you’re sure this is something you really want? To learn how to draw power from your emotions?”

“Yes! Absolutely, Ben, I’m so ready to learn about this part of the Force. It’s a complete mystery to me.”

He could tell she was genuinely desperate to understand this part of the Force and herself, but with as dismal as she’d been at bringing up intentional anger she was going to need some serious help. She wouldn’t like it, but he was going to have to push her to a place of intense anger just to know what that felt like. Once she knew what it felt like, she’d have a better chance of summoning anger herself. Luckily for her he was particularly talented when it came to summoning anger. He knew he needed to make one thing clear before going there though. 

“I’m going to help you do this, but just promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to lead you through something. It’s going to be really difficult. If it gets too intense, promise me you’ll just walk outside and don’t come back in. Wait for me to come out to you.”

“If what gets too intense?”

“Trust me, you’ll know.”

Rey wasn’t sure what she was agreeing to, but she trusted Ben enough to know she could follow him, wherever it was he was leading her. 

“I promise.”

Ben centered his mind and prepared to go to a place he hadn’t been in a very long time. After all he’d been through and learned about himself, he was actually ready to get back to it now that it served a purpose he believed in. This time it wouldn’t be about a sick quest for power someone else had made him think he needed. This time it was about helping Rey understand a part of herself that was utterly foreign to her. He felt a familiar sense of empowerment come over him, and knew he was ready to begin. 

“You know what I hate?” His tone had changed. It was higher, agitated. 

“What?” Rey was caught off guard by the sudden change in tone. 

“I hate how easily everything comes to you. I hate how you and everyone else here act like everything’s fine when it’s clearly not.”

“Ben, what are you on about?”

“Oh come on, don’t act like you don’t know. The way you and Finn and Rose and Chewie just tiptoe around me like I’m the elephant in the room. It’s exhausting. Poor Ben. He just couldn’t help himself, falling to the dark side for all those years. Meanwhile you got to be the hero in everyone’s eyes. Convenient huh? You really think you’re that much better than me because you were on the right side of the war.”

“Excuse me?” He could feel her pulse rising. He was getting exactly the reaction he wanted from her.

“Let’s be honest with each other Rey, no need to keep this stuff buried away. At the end of the day I’m nothing more than a burden to you. Your life would be a lot easier without me. You’ve got everything you want, you always have. You’ve got countless friends who love you. You even got to have my family when they’d given up on me. They ran and hid all across the galaxy to get away from me, yet they welcomed you with open arms. You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted in life and yet being around you is a constant reminder that you’ve always had everything I wanted. Even worse? Now that I finally have the kind of life I want to live, I’m constantly reminded that I never would have had any of it of not for your help.”

Rey stared back at him speechless, unsure what had come over the man that sat in front of her.

He stood up and started pacing, looking down at her as he spoke. 

“I mean, I gotta hand it to you. You did your best to avoid me as long as you could, but the Force wasn’t going to let you get away that easily was it? Destiny and all that. Maybe that’s why you cut yourself off from the Force in so many of our past lives. It’s a lot easier to avoid me without that draw huh?”

“Ben what is wrong with you?!” She’d stood up. He could sense she was ready to push back, to challenge the nonsense he was spewing at her. She was going right where he wanted her to go. 

“I mean did you ever take a moment to think about what it was like for me? Probably not. Why would you? You had everything you needed. The whole time I was trapped on the dark side, all I could think about after finding you was being with you. My every thought of every day was driven by it. Everything that I pushed myself to be was because of you. But every time I reached out to you, all I saw was you with other people. People who were on the “right” side of things. You were never thinking about me- I was just a giant problem you couldn’t seem to figure out how to get rid of. Everything you were nearly drove me insane.”

Rey had heard enough. 

“You think I never thought about you?! That I wanted to avoid you?! That it was EASY for me?! All I wanted was to be with you and yet you kept hurling yourself down paths that hurt you! Paths I couldn’t follow! If not for my friends support I would have gone insane!”

Ben had her right where he needed her, and knew where he needed to go next. 

“Well thank the GODS you had all of them to distract yourself from the absolute WRECK that I was. I’m sure that was all very hard for you! I’m so sorry you had to put up with seeing me going through literal hell!”

“Ben what the-?! You KNOW I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Oh do I? Do I really?! How would I know? You never seem to want to talk about any of this so I’ve got no way of knowing how you really feel. Poor Rey, in love with the black sheep of the crew. Let’s just not talk about his fucked up past and maybe all of it will go away!”

Rey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could he say such things? After all they’d been to each other? How could he possibly think of her like that? It made a level of rage flare inside her that she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“That is not fair and you KNOW it.”

“Oh is it? Well since you suddenly want to talk about it, tell me why that’s not fair? Maybe then I’ll finally understand all that the good and powerful Rey has to show me.”

She was ready to put him in his place. She did her best to unload all the things she’d kept buried away the past few months. 

“You’re acting like this has all been easy for me. That going from being hunted by the man I wanted nothing more than to be with and love, to leaving everything I’ve known and actually having you here, just like I’ve always dreamed about… Except now on top of all that I’m pregnant with twins and my body is changing every day in ways I don’t understand… Then boom I had to go through seeing my friends disappointment when they realized all I’d been hiding from them… On top of that we’ve got the Force throwing us curves around every corner, never giving us a moments peace… Being together, it’s a dream come true, but… that doesn’t mean all of it has been easy. NONE of it has been easy!”

Rey felt like an idiot. She had so much more she wanted to say in that moment, but somehow everything that came out of her mouth felt wrong. 

Ben had no such issue. 

“None of this has been easy? Really Rey? What we’re living is a cake walk compared to the years I spent on the dark side. I thank the gods every day you’ll never know what that’s like, that you had the strength to resist, that your grandfather never came for you the way he came for me. Now I see there’s an even bigger reason why I should be thankful you never fell to the dark side. If you think life with me on Tatooine and Ahch To is SO rough, you wouldn’t have lasted a week under Snoke.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Oh you heard what I said. If life with me is so hard maybe I should have stayed dead on Exegol. Maybe I should have saved you the trouble of this horrible existence you’re now living. I’m sure going back to Chandrilla- MY home planet I was torn away from as a CHILD- going back there with your friends and getting to have the kind of life I never had a chance to dream about would have been a lot more enjoyable than being exiled to the ends of the galaxy with Ben fucking Solo.”

It was too much. His words had cut so deep that a rage welled up inside her like she’d never felt before. A wildfire started at the base of Rey’s spine and burned up through her until her skin felt white hot. 

“Ben why the FUCK are you being like this?!”

“I don’t know sweetheart! You tell me! You’re the only person in the galaxy that can make me this nuts! If you want to know why I’m like this go look in a fucking mirror!”

“GAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” Rey screamed at Ben as her right hand shot out, unleashing bolts of blue lightning all across the temple, out the archway, over the cliff, and to the ocean beyond. One of the bolts hit the ancient floor mosaic, shattering it and sending rocks flying in every direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does it count as your first fight if it's part of a training exercise? Luckily for Rey, I'm sure Ben has some great makeup sex planned after this...


	36. Silver Lining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey realizes there was a method to Ben's madness. Someone else overhears their training session and decides to check in on them.

Ben jumped in front of Rey and held her down in a crouched position, shielding her with his body from the cascade of rocks that rained down on them. The explosion and what followed shook Rey from her anger as she felt a shift in Ben. His anger melted away and a calm peace came over him as he held her. He stood over her for a moment as the dust settled, making sure no more rocks were falling. 

Finally he stood up and looked back at the destruction she’d just caused. 

“Damn, not bad for your first try.”

“Ben… what the hell?!” Part of Rey was still seething with anger, while part of her was having a hard time believing what had just happened. Her husband had seemingly lost his mind and was now totally fine with whatever had just happened. 

He looked back at her, realizing she was still reeling from the experience. He made sure to choose his next words carefully.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry I had to say all of that. I didn’t mean any of it. You know I’d never say anything like that to hurt you. I just had to push you to see what you were capable of. You weren’t getting it on your own and I needed you to see where anger could take you.”

“Wait, you’re telling me…” Rey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. In spite of herself, Ben’s apology had made her start to calm down from where she’d been. “You’re telling me that was part of the exercise?! That all of that was an act?”

Again Ben made sure to choose his words carefully. This was all new to Rey and he wanted to make sure she understood what he was trying to show her. 

“That’s the thing about anger. Those were real words I could say if I didn’t know any better and let my anger get the better of me. I was bringing all of that up to help encourage you to discover your own anger. We all have layers of unhealthy thoughts like that buried in the depths of our minds. The deeper you go, the more nonsensical and unhealthy the thoughts are. To harness it and find strength in it you have to understand and accept that it’s a part of you, but part of you that can be controlled- just like all of your emotions.”

“So you’re telling me all of the anger I felt from you, that was all real, but you were in control of it the entire time?”

“Yes, understanding anger and mastering it is the foundation of studying the dark side. Anger is a weapon that can be wielded just like a light saber. The more you practice it, the more you will understand it and be able to control it. You wanted to see how that worked so I had to show you. Did you feel a fire start in the base of your spine and move up through out you, your skin getting hot right before your outburst?”

She was stunned he'd decribed it so well. "Yes... why?"

"That was your anger moving through you as power in the Force. Eventually, you'll be able to summon that power yourself without a second thought." 

“But wait…” Something about what he was saying didn’t add up. “When you were Kylo, when you were on the dark side, I have to be honest it didn’t feel like you had a lot of control over your anger.”

Ben thought about it for a second. “That’s the irony isn’t it? All those years I was being taught to use my anger as a weapon, when it was really using me. If the texts are teaching us anything it’s that you need both sides of the Force to truly master it. Without the light, without the insight that there was more to me than just my anger, I wasn’t able to control any of my negative emotions. Giving myself over to the dark and turning away from the light meant I set all the worst parts of myself free without any ability to reign them in.”

Rey realized in that moment that Ben’s time on the dark side had given him insights into things he never could have gained otherwise. His suffering had led to a kind of wisdom that couldn’t have been achieved any other way, wisdom that he was now able to share with her. It was a small but not insignificant silver lining on a very dark time for both of them. 

“So, just now- sorry if I’m a little slow understanding this. Just now you’re saying you were in total control of your emotions, that you were using them like a tool. How long have you been able to do that?”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s a lot to take in. You know you can ask as many questions as you want. I realized it soon after we got to Tatooine. It feels like it happened when came together on Exegol. Once we were united as a Dyad I was finally free to control my mind and use my thoughts to serve me, rather than always being controlled by them.”

Rey instantly understood. She too had felt an immense peace within her mind once they’d come together. Their bond had given them a strength over themselves they never could have achieved alone. 

Rey sat back down on her mat, her head in her hands, trying to process all that had just happened. 

Ben sat down across from her. “You ok? Take all the time you need. Like I said this can be really intense.”

“It’s just all so bewildering and different from everything I’ve ever learned.” She looked back up at him as a thought struck her. “You really pushed yourself to that dark place for me?”

“Of course I did. You needed help understanding it so I had to show you.”

“In a way that’s… oddly sweet…”

“Well, you’re welcome.”

“It’s also really embarrassing.”

“How so?”

Rey sighed. “I just can’t believe I thought you were serious, that I let you get to me like that.”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh so that’s funny is it?”

“I mean… you did get really mad. You smashed an entire mosaic on your first try. I'd say you passed that test with flying colors.” He couldn’t help himself. She’d initially been terrible at bringing up anger, but the second he led her to it she’d blown past his expectations. The more he thought about it, the funnier it got. 

“Well, I’m glad you find it so hysterical.”

“You have to admit, I did give you a pretty big heads up in the beginning. You were terrible at bringing up anger and I started out with ‘I hate how easily everything comes to you’. I figured that would have been a little obvious.”

She sighed again. She couldn’t believe how hard she’d fallen for it. “Whatever would I do without your infinite wisdom Ben Solo?”

He was still laughing. “You wouldn’t have a broken mosaic to fix, for one thing.”

“Damnit, you’re right.” She looked around them at the carnage she’d caused. Piecing back together an ancient mosaic was going to be quite a task. “You’re not going to make me do it all by myself are you?”

Ben smiled. “Of course not.” He looked around at the state of the temple. “Let’s head down to the beach to find some more rocks. It looks like some of these got smashed to powder. We’re probably going to need to find some replacements.”

At that moment they felt a familiar presence enter the temple. A blue glow took shape as Luke appeared before them.

“What’s going on? Are you two ok? It felt like a bomb went off on the island…” He looked around the temple, stunned by the destruction he was seeing. “What the hell happened to the mosaic?!”

Ben and Rey looked at each other, unsure what to say. They both knew Ben training Rey in the dark side was the last thing Luke was prepared to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it takes two days for a chapter to marinate, sometimes you all get lucky and two chapters fly from my fingers in one day. I figured I’d better upload both of these chapters at the same time so everyone could see Ben hadn’t totally lost his mind. Thankfully I was able to get them both done in one day. :)
> 
> Now if I could just get Luke to leave our OTP alone, I think a very long walk on the beach is well deserved after all that.


	37. A Walk on the Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey head to the beach to collect rocks to fix the temple mosaic. What happens next is something they've both been secretly hoping for, but didn't quite know how to bring up to each other until now.

Just as they were thinking of what to say to Luke, Finn dashed in the temple. He was out of breath from sprinting up a mountainside of stone steps. 

“Are... are you two ok… It felt like… something exploded… up here.. oh wow.” He tried to catch his breath as he looked around, seeing what a terrible state the temple was in.

“Everything’s fine-“ Rey had to think of something quick to cover them. “We were- we were meditating on something we saw when we were down in the cave. It got pretty dark. It brought up a lot of emotions for both of us and, well, the next thing we know…“ she couldn’t think of where else to go with it. Ben jumped in to save her. 

“What she’s trying to say is the whole dyad thing can get pretty complicated. We’re learning our powers combine exponentially sometimes and that does some pretty wild stuff if we’re not careful.”

Luke sensed there was more to it than what they were telling him. “I see… Anything you want to talk about?” He’d been worried about what the two of them might have seen in their most recent life together. 

“No, I think we’re good now. We- we’ll let you know if we have any questions.” Rey feared that the more they said, the more he’d sense about what they’d really been up to. She could tell Ben was thinking the same thing. 

“As long as you two are fine I’ll leave you to it. Remember, don’t be afraid to reach out if you need us. We’re here for you, whatever you need.”

“Thanks Uncle Luke.” 

Luke looked at Ben, puzzled. He hadn’t called him “uncle” Luke since he was a child. Luke could tell his presence was making them nervous and decided it was time to go. “You both know where to find me if you need me.” He smiled and disappeared. 

Rey and Ben looked back at Finn who’d finally caught his breath. 

“So, do you two need anything, or, help cleaning this up-“

Rey was quick to respond. “I think we’ve got it, thanks!”

Finn could tell his friends wanted to be left alone. “Cool, well, I’ll just run back down I guess. Just uh, just let us know if you need us.” With that he was back out the door and gone.

Rey looked back at Ben. “At some point we’re going to have to tell them what we’re up to.”

Ben didn’t miss a beat. “I mean- this was your idea.”

She smirked at the accusation. “So all of this was my doing, huh?”

“Well… yes…” He waved at the wreckage that laid around them. “You did actually do all of this.” 

She smiled. “We both know I never would have achieved such great things without such a fabulous teacher.”

“I guess I did do a pretty good job of making you mad.”

“That you did.” She thought about it for a second. “Maybe can you give me a warning next time or something? That was hardly my favorite lesson if I’m being totally honest.”

“It wouldn’t have worked as well if you knew it was coming. If you want to make an omelet you have to crack a few eggs. If you want to learn about the dark side, well, you have to smash a few mosaics.”

Rey laughed. Few things made her soul as happy as seeing Ben rediscovering his quirky sense of humor. “Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson and this is just the one time.”

“Not likely. You should have seen how many things I smashed as a kid before I even knew what I was doing.”

The thought made Rey anxious. “You should probably fill me in on all of that so I know what to expect when our little angles get here.”

Ben smiled. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll tell you all about it down on the beach. We’re gonna need to fix this thing sooner than later or the caretakers will have us evicted.”

Rey suddenly remembered how much destruction her first visit to the island had caused. “You have no idea.”

*****

Down on the beach Rey tried going over in her mind all that she’d just experienced. Learning about the dark side was like being thrown into another world she’d never known. She wanted so much to understand it, not just because of what all the Force had been trying to show them, but because of how it helped her understand her husband more, as well as herself. 

It wasn’t hard to see her grandfather had targeted Ben for more than just his raw power. He had a talent for understanding the dark side and all of its complexities. It came as naturally to him as breathing. The more she could understand that part of him, the more it also helped her understand a part of herself. What he’d said about the dark being a part of who they were was true. The more she learned about it, the more she felt another part of herself coming awake that she hadn’t known had been there. 

Walking down the beach together their minds were both an open book. They’d both just been through an incredibly intense experience and naturally their minds were tired from all they’d just put them through. The more Rey tried to think about all she’d just learned, the more her mind wandered to places she hadn’t expected. 

The further down the beach they got, the less she was able to think about the lesson and the more her thoughts drifted to Ben. How the ocean breeze blew back his hair, the curve of his muscles when he bent down to pick up a new rock he’d found, how brightly his green eyes burned into her when he noticed her staring at him. The same thing was happening to him as well. She felt his eyes on her more and more. They both felt a passion for each other starting to grow inside them that they hadn’t expected during an afternoon stroll collecting rocks.

It didn’t take long for Rey to realize what was happening. They’d come to a part of the beach which was right over the back side of the underground cave. The first time they’d approached and entered the cave they’d had their minds shielded to it’s effects. This time they’d unknowingly walked into it’s vortex of dark power with their minds totally open. Not that she minded of course. After everything that had just happened up at the temple, feeling reconnected by their passion for each other was a welcome experience. 

Ben also sensed what was happening and wasn’t about to fight it. He hadn’t expected his wife to want anything to do with passion after their exercise in anger, but if the cave was working it’s magic to bring them back together in that way he wasn’t going to stop it. He kept his mind as open to hers as he could, hoping to sense as much desire within her as he was feeling within himself. He wasn’t disappointed. 

Finally Rey spoke up. “Ben, do you-“

“Yes” He already knew what was on her mind and had jumped the gun answering before she’d had a chance to ask. 

She looked at him coyly. “I haven’t asked you anything yet.”

“Right… what were you going to say?”

Rey smiled. He was already on the same page, but for the fun of it she asked anyway. “Do you want to take another trip inside the cave? I feel like it’s got a bit more it wants to show us.”

“Yes” He tried not to sound too eager. He could barely contain himself. After their first night on the Falcon together he hadn’t stopped thinking about how talking about the cave had affected Rey. In addition to their experience on Starkiller, he couldn’t wait to see that part of her let loose again. Going into the cave with their minds open was the perfect opportunity to make that happen. 

They made their way up over the hill, barely saying a word to each other. Neither wanted to fully admit to the other what they were up to yet they were both fully aware of what the plan was between them. The anticipation between them cracked and sparked higher and higher the closer they got. This time as they got to the stone basin that framed the entrance, they could feel each other’s hearts pounding in their chests. 

Ben didn’t stop to give direction this time. They knew exactly what they were doing. He dove right into the seaweed ringed entrance without a second thought. Rey loved seeing how excited he was, he couldn’t wait to get them both back into that space. He hadn’t made it to the shore yet but she already felt him pulling her to him in the Force. She flew to the entrance and down through it, seeing him waiting below in the water with his arms outstretched. 

As he caught her in the water they looked around, waiting for something to happen. All they saw around them were the still and silent walls of the cave. Towards the back of the cave a cascade of water fell from an empty darkness above. Somehow they’d missed seeing that on their first visit. Everything else around them was dark and solid. This time the Force was going to let them be together in that space without any interruptions from past lives or destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Rolls up sleeves* Whew I've been looking forward to writing dark side cave smut for a while...


	38. Going Deeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben find themselves going deeper into the cave than they've ever been. Ben accidentally shares something with Rey, leaving her wanting even more of the parts of him he's kept hidden away.

Their eyes met as Rey looked up at Ben.

“Something on your mind sweetheart?” She smiled mischievously.

“You know exactly what’s on my mind.”

“Well I don’t think it’s going to work very well here in a pool of salt water. At least not for me.”

“Oh right.” In his urgency he hadn’t even made it to the shore before bringing her to him. The dark, powerful passion that coursed through them from the cave hadn’t made it easy to think through things. He used the Force to float them both up onto the shore, still holding Rey in his arms. He frantically looked around for a spot that would be suitable for all they wanted to do to each other. Caves weren’t the most promising spaces, but way back in the darkness he spotted a smooth table height rock towards the back of the cave that was just wide enough for one person to lay on. 

He carried her back deeper into the cave than either of them had been before. He laid her down on the rock, taking his shirt off and laying it behind her head as a pillow. The sight of his bare chest was too much for Rey to hold back any longer. She sat up and wrapped her legs around his waist, kissing him and running her hands through his hair. As they kissed they did their best to quickly rip off what clothes they still had on. Once she finally had him naked she reached down and began rubbing his cock up against her opening. She couldn’t wait to feel the fullness of him inside her.

Ben whispered in her ear, “Shhh sweetheart, be patient. There’s so much I want to do to you.” His words sent shivers up her spine as he laid her back on the cool surface. 

Ben stood up straight and took a moment to savor the sight of his beautiful pregnant wife laid out on the rock before him- face flushed, legs spread, ready to take all of him in. Having her laid out naked before him like this reminded him of a fantasy he’d thought of more times than he could remember- one he was certain Rey hadn’t shared. She couldn’t have, never having known the space he’d imagined taking her in. He was determined to make her scream his name just as she had in his fantasies- even if the name she now knew him by wasn’t the name he’d fantasized about her screaming.

Ben grabbed her hips, having her right where he wanted her. He knelt down, throwing her legs back over his shoulders and burying his face between her thighs. The feeling of his warm mouth and thick lips on her cunt made Rey let out a gasp, which echoed throughout the cave. He couldn’t wait to hear her screams echo off the walls of the cave in the same way.

Ben eagerly watched her body start to writhe in pleasure as his tongue took hold of the tenderest parts of her. It was just like he’d always imagined, her body outstretched on a dark smooth surface, totally surrendered to him to do with as he wanted.

Rey propped herself up on her elbows for a moment to look down at Ben as waves of pleasure shot through her. She loved seeing his hunger for her in his eyes as he brought her to ecstasy. As he looked up at her she sensed Ben was remembering something, but couldn’t tell what. He had walls up in his mind keeping her from seeing what he was thinking about. 

The thought only turned her on more. The idea that he was thinking about something forbidden- something about her that he wasn’t ready to share yet, but that made him look up at her like an animal ready to pounce- it was everything she needed. 

His tongue danced around her cunt in a way that brought her to the edge of consciousness. She dropped her head back, the pleasure too much to focus on any one thing. She felt the walls in his mind pushing out as his fantasy got stronger and clearer for him. She felt something inside his mind push out and rip through her as he sent her over the edge. 

As the pleasure from his mouth exploded inside of her it caused her to scream out- 

“Oh yes Kylo!!!”

Ben’s former name echoed off the walls as she shot to sitting straight up, realizing what she’d just done. 

She looked down at Ben, horrified at what she’d just said. She tried to make sense of it as she apologized “Oh Ben- I’m so sorry… I don’t know what came over me… I didn’t mean-“

Suddenly she noticed he was looking up at her in a way she hadn’t expected. She’d thought he’d have been shocked, maybe even angry to hear her call him by his former name. Instead the man that looked up at her looked… embarrassed? It was as if he’d been caught in something he’d never wanted her to know about.

She instantly realized what had happened. Whatever he’d been thinking about, it had involved her screaming that name. She couldn’t hold back asking anymore. She had to find out what she’d been bursting to know. 

“You’re fantasizing about something! Aren’t you?!” Ben stared back at her blankly. “Oh please Ben! Tell me what it was? What are you thinking about?” 

He looked back at her frozen, horrified she’d sensed something about where his mind had been. 

She sensed his fear about sharing this part of himself with her. She reached down to him, putting a hand up to his face to let him know it would be ok. 

“Ben it’s me, you can tell me anything, you know that. There’s nothing you could share with me that would make me think of you any differently. Please, tell me what you were thinking about?”

He knew she was right. This was the woman who’d seen every dark, broken, corrupted part of him and still been there for him when he’d been ready to come back to her. She was the only person in the world that he could share those things with, knowing she’d still love him in spite of all the things that sometimes made it hard to love himself. 

He took a deep breath and began. 

“When I was the Supreme Leader, I’d have to sit through these terrible meetings with First Order high command. I hated every minute of it and every person in that room. I hated everything they all stood for yet there I was. The only thing that got me through them was thinking about you.”

“Oh?” Rey was intrigued. She knew there was more to it than just thinking about her. It was what he’d been thinking about doing to her that she really wanted to know. “How so?” 

This was the hard part. He figured he’d better get it over with. He knew if she could hear this, she could hear anything.

“I’d think about taking you right there on the table in front of me.”

“Really?!” Rey was shocked, but not in a bad way. She was more fascinated by the fact that his mind had gone there. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d sat through boring Resistance meetings, dreaming of sneaking off with Ben behind the trees. The more they’d tried to dedicate themselves to the opposing sides they were on, the more they had just wanted each other. 

“But wait, right there on the table? Would you imagine we were together with people watching?” Rey wanted to know everything about Ben’s forbidden fantasies from that time in his life. 

“Gods no.” He realized how wrong that had come out. “Just the two of us alone in there together. The thought of you stretched out on that table before me, it was the most beautiful thing I could imagine at the time.”

Rey smiled up at him. He couldn’t believe what he’d just told her had actually made her happy. The next thing she said came as the greatest shock of all.

“Do you think you can show me? Merge our minds together so I can see what you were seeing?” The thought of him fantasizing about taking her in such a forbidden place just made the hunger that was building inside of her that much more intense. She had to know what he’d been seeing. 

He smiled back down at her. “Of course.” He reached out to her and they took each other’s hands, closing their eyes and letting their minds merge. Ben brought his fantasy back up and brought Rey into it. He felt the weight of his old clothes on him again, his head trapped inside a metal helmet he’d tried to forget. He hadn’t meant to include that in the fantasy, yet for some reason here it was. 

Rey felt the air around them dry as she felt leather forming around her skin. The surface she was laid back on had gone from cold and damp to smooth and dry. The sense that they’d been transported somewhere made her eyes snap back open. 

A jump shot through her from the shock of what she saw. The masked version of Ben’s former self stood in front of her. She looked down to realize she was wearing a black, long sleeved, leather knee length dress that mirrored the style of his clothing. She also had tall black boots on that came up to her knees. She was laid out in front of him on the table of the First Order high command, legs spread, ready to let him have his way with her. 

As soon as Ben’s eyes opened and he realized he was actually wearing his old helmet, he reached up and ripped it off, throwing it against the wall. The only thing Rey liked about that helmet was the way his hair fell in his face after he took it off. 

They stared at each other in shock for a second, realizing what they’d just done. 

“We did it again… Ben, we made a fantasy become real.” Rey looked around, taking in the unfamiliar room she now found herself in. 

Ben looked around, confused. “But this time we didn’t have the saber with us… how did we-“

Rey sighed. “I honestly couldn’t care less about the rules of the Force right now. Ben, show me what you wanted to-“ Just then she noticed her belly was still large and round. Unlike Starkiller, in this fantasy she was still pregnant. She reached down to touch her bump. “How am I-“

He smiled down at her sheepishly. “That was part of the fantasy. You were my wife and I’d had you many, many times before. “ Of course he had. Rey had fantasized about the same thing during that time against what she thought was her better judgement… It only made sense he’d done the same. 

Another difference from Starkiller hit her- She sensed there were people on this ship. Though they were alone in this room she sensed his knights and several first order officers were waiting outside the door. 

“Are there- are there people waiting to come in?” 

He suddenly looked embarrassed again. He’d forgotten about that part of the fantasy. 

“Yeaaahhh well… that was another part of it. I’d always imagine I wasn’t going to let any of them in until I was done doing everything I wanted to with you.”

A huge, devilish grin spread across Rey’s face. “Oh, Ben Solo… you are a very, very bad boy.”

“I thought you’d have figured that out by now.”

“Oh I have, and I love it. There’s just one thing I need you to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Show me how bad you really want to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the smut ends up going somewhere so hot takes two chapters to cover it...


	39. Taking Command

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey joins Ben in indulging one of his deepest, darkest fantasies. Ben is amazed to discover she enjoys it just as much as he does.

An equally devilish smile spread across Ben’s face. It felt like he’d waited his whole life to hear those words from her. He never would have imagined sharing this fantasy with her before now, yet seeing how excited it made her he instantly knew what she needed. 

He reached up and snapped his cape of letting it fall to the floor. Without saying a word he picked her up of the table and spun her around to standing in front of him.

“Put your hands on the table.” He commanded.

“Yes sir...” Rey’s skin was already bristling with anticipation. She could tell she was in for a treat. 

She placed her gloved hands on the surface of the table. With both hands he ripped the back of her dress open, sending small round black buttons flying across the room. 

“That was a nice dress!” She protested.

“Do you have somewhere to be after this?”

She turned and smiled back at him coyly. She was playing along, but she wasn’t going to make this easy for him. Her snark only made him want to ravage her more. 

He leaned over her and solidly planted his hands on either side of hers, whispering in her ear with a low growl that made her head fall back into him. 

“I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

“Yes?” 

He pulled her hair to the side, kissed across the back of her neck, and whispered in her other ear. “I’m going to need you to scream for me. Can you do that?”

“Yes, anything…“ The dominant tone in his voice was unlike anything she’d ever heard. Each word that fell from his lips made her wetter with desire.

“I want everyone on this ship to hear you, to know exactly what I’m doing to you. Are you sure you can do that for me? Can you make your Supreme Leader proud?”

“O- Of course…” She was nearly breathless.

“Good girl.”

He pulled her dress up over her head and ripped her bra off with one hand, throwing them both against the wall. He then picked her up and set her back on the table in front of him. She was completely naked for him save her boots and gloves. He knelt down and began to unsnap the buckles on her boots. 

“No! Leave them on, I like them. I’ve never had boots like this before.”

Rey’s fascination with her new boots was oddly adorable. “What my empress wants, my empress gets.”

“I’m an empress now?”

“You are whatever you want to be.” Something about the way he talked reminded her of who he’d been back then. A sharp monotone quality punctuated his every word, as if he was a bundle of tension that could come apart at any moment. Something about it drove her wild. She so wanted to see him come apart for her.

He reached his hands up under her thighs, grabbing her ass and pulling her to him. The quick motion made her have to throw her hands back to brace herself. His mouth was inches from her cunt as he looked up at her. She felt the heat of his breath on her as he spoke. 

“Are you ready to scream for me my beautiful empress?” The sound of him saying those words made even more wetness pool between her thighs. 

“Yes…” her voice trembled. 

“Good.”

His mouth dove into her with a fierceness, causing her gloved fingers to squeak against the table as her hands clawed for something to hold onto. 

“Ben… oh gods Ben!” she moaned. 

Hearing his name made him instantly invade her mind. 

_No sweetheart, no using that name here. ___

_But… you want me to… ___

_You know what you have to do- call me what everyone on this ship knows me by. Anything else and they’ll know something’s wrong. ___

She stared down at him for a second, his dark eyes burning into her as he dared her to use his old name. His mouth sucked on her harder, his tongue lashing her clit without mercy. 

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, still afraid to use the name he wanted her to use. Thought she’d said it alone countless times in her earliest fantasies of him, something about moaning that name in pleasure with him in real life still felt wrong. 

He sensed her hesitation.

Feeling his mouth pull away, she looked down at him to see why he’d stopped. 

Without breaking eye contact he used his teeth to pull his right glove off, his other hand still firmly holding onto her thigh. The look on his face almost dared her to try and keep quiet. He slid a finger up into her opening as his mouth went back to doing what it did best. His finger plunged deeper and deeper, finding just the spot that he knew would make her come undone. 

Her arms collapsed under her as she laid back on the table, hands still reaching for something to hold onto and finding nothing. 

The more he pushed into her the less she was able to hold back. 

_What did I tell you sweetheart? You know what I want from you. ___

“Kylo…” she moaned with a low whisper.

_Yes that’s it... ___

“Oh gods yes right there…”

_Oh you need more of that? ___

“Yes... please…” She was getting closer and closer.

_Please, who? ___

“Please… Kylo!” She moaned louder. 

They sensed an unease starting to creep up on those outside the door. Everyone waiting outside had started to hear what they were up to. It was exactly what Ben wanted.

He lunged up over her, folding her right leg into her allowing him to push harder and deeper inside of her. The boot on her left foot dug into the table, creating a loud screech as it scratched into the smooth surface. 

“Yes… Kylo! Oh gods…” She was about to come undone. 

He slid his finger out and slid two into her, pushing into her cunt with a force that was everything that she needed. 

Both of her hands smacked the table as her back arched in ecstasy. 

“Ooooohhh KYLO yeeeesssss!” She screamed as burst of pleasure shot through her. He continued devouring her and pushing up into her, drawing her orgasm out and eliciting more screams from her in the process. 

Once he felt her body relax he looked up, enjoying the sight of her totally surrendered to him on the table. 

Her head lifted, looking at him. She sat up and reached to undo his pants. Once she figured out the belt and got them loose she shoved them down, revealing the massive erection she’d been waiting to see. 

He kicked his boots and pants off then pulled his shirt off over his head, leaving his leather sleeves on. On Starkiller he’d sensed how much she’d loved the feel of their cool leather against her skin. She reached down to grab him but before she could get him to her opening he grabbed both of her wrists and planted her hands back on the table. 

“No ma’am. I’m not done yet.” He wanted to make this last as long as he could.

She stared up at him in confusion. 

“You’ll get what you want when I say so.” He’d dreamed about this scenario alone too many times to not make the most of it now that he had her here. 

“But Ben I need-“

“Excuse me?” He looked at her, eyebrows raised. 

“Kylo, I need-“

“I know exactly what you need.”

He shoved her back onto the table. He continued to devour her, shoving his fingers into her tender swollen cunt. Bracing herself became even harder as the combined wetness from his mouth and the pleasure it caused pooled under her. 

“Kylo… oh GODS!” She screamed as he overwhelmed her. The unease from outside the door kept building. They felt his knights and officers slowly backing away, trying to look anywhere other than the door that hid what was going on behind it. 

Rey was at her limit. “Please Kylo, I can’t take much more of this... I NEED you!”

He looked back up at her. “Beg for it.” He commanded. 

“What?”

“You heard me. I want you to beg for it.”

She sank back onto her elbows, throwing her head back in frustration. She knew what she had to do to get what she wanted. 

She yelled out his name as loud as she could. “PLEASE KYLO! I need your cock inside me right now!!! I can’t take much more of this!!!”

_Come for me one more time sweetheart. ___

He didn’t have to ask twice. She was already there, her back arching above the table as she screamed. Her boots dug into the table again leaving a fresh batch of scratches on it’s surface. 

“Good girl” He mumbled, pulling her to him and pushing his cock into her immediately. Feeling the fullness of him entering her as the aftershocks of her orgasm coursed through her made Rey let out the most delicious moan he’d ever heard. He nearly had her in tears and he’d just got to the good part. 

She let her head fall back again, savoring every perfect thrust that entered her. His cock satisfied her in a way that was otherworldly. Again she reached out with her hands to grab onto something that wasn’t there. This table fantasy of his was a bit more difficult for her than she’d imagined, yet she was loving every minute of it. 

She felt his hunger for her growing with each moan she let out. She looked up at him to see the desire in his eyes. What she saw was a look of pure, smug satisfaction. He’d realized he’d made her surrender to him in every way- she couldn’t deny that. Seeing how satisfied he was with himself lit a fire inside of her. She wasn’t going to let him have his way with her this easily. 

She caught her breath, leaned up and put her hand behind his head as he thrust into her. She grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him to her. 

“You said you were going to make me scream loud enough for everyone on this ship to hear.” She stared deeply into his eyes in a way that reminded him of the first time she’d invaded his mind. “Somehow… I don’t feel like we’re there yet.” 

She leaned back to gage his reaction. He stopped thrusting and stared back at her for a moment in awe, a smile slowly creeping across his face. 

“Be careful what you wish for, Rey.”

She stared back at him indignantly, pulling her gloves off and throwing them to the floor. “You know what I want….” She pulled him as close to her as she could, reaching back and digging her nails into his shoulder. She slowly traced a scratch down his back as she let her next words drip from her lips. “…and now, you’ll give it to me.”

Teasing him with pain while using his own words against him drove him mad. She could practically hear the passion hissing out of him as he picked her up and spun her around, planting her feet on the floor and her hands on he table as he had in the beginning. He kicked her feet apart, grabbing her hips, and plunged his cock into her from behind. 

“Gaaaaahhh!” She screamed as he pushed her body to it’s limits. She leaned forward, bracing herself with both arms on the table as he thrust into her. She’d pushed him to a point to where he wasn’t able to hold back, just as she’d hoped to do. 

“That’s it… scream for me on my cock sweetheart… I want everyone to hear just how good you’re taking it.”

She screamed for him over and over, bracing herself against the table to hold herself up. The pleasure was overwhelming. Her arms and legs started to go weak from all the sensations that shot through her. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to keep up with the force of his long legs plunging himself up into her. Try as she might she couldn’t get a firm grip on the smooth surface below her. Finally she had to speak up.

_It’s… it’s too much… I can’t stand like this… I’m afraid… I can’t hold myself up… If I fall, my belly… the babies… ___

He stopped immediately realizing the issue. 

“We better take care of that precious cargo.” His eyes darted around the room looking for a solution. His cape… of course…

He picked up his cape and flung it out in front of them, spreading it all across the table. He bundled their clothes up and threw them on top of it for added cushion. He lifted her and set her back on the table, climbing up onto the table after her. 

“That’s more like it.” She smiled up at him on her back, legs spread, ready to take him again. 

“Nope, too easy…” He picked her up and spun her around, setting her back down on all fours in front of him. With both hands on her hips plunged himself into her from behind, forcing another delicious moan out of her that nearly made him weak. 

“Perfection...” Rey thought as he plunged into her over and over again from behind. She finally had something soft under her to hold onto while she took the full force of his passion. 

“Uuhhnnggg… gods yes!” She moaned on him as he worked her up again, gripping the pile of fabric in her hands tightly, savoring the force of his every thrust. His fingers dug into her hips as he ravaged her. His fierceness let her know that she’d reached a place deep inside of him that he’d never shared with her before. 

“Yes … that’s it… that’s what I want… your passion… your rage… give me all of it!” She could barely get the words out it was so good. 

He leaned over her, forcing his hand between her legs to rub her clit mercilessly with each thrust. 

“Only if you give me everything first.” He growled, nipping the back of her neck to let her know he demanded full submission. 

“aaaaaaAAAAHHHH!” She screamed as she came apart in his arms. The combination of him thrusting her from behind and rubbing her tender clit was too much. He had her completely surrendered to him, screaming and writhing beneath him, giving him everything that she had. Waves of orgasms overcame her mind and body, taking her to places she didn’t knew existed. 

“KYLO!” She screamed as he kept pushing her, “I can’t… I can’t take much more of this! Oh gods… FUCK!” She barely chocked the words out between waves of overwhelming pleasure. 

“Is there something of mine that you want?!” There was an intensity in his tone, yet his words weren’t much more than a whisper. It was taking everything he had to hold it together, yet he was determined to make her wait for it as long as he could. 

“You KNOW what I want!” She yelled. 

“Then you know what you have to do.” He didn’t have to spell it out for her. She knew he was making her beg for it. 

“Please…” She cried, another orgasm threatening to overtake her, “Please Kylo come with me this time… come inside me… I need it, I need all of it!”

“You’re already carrying my children, yet still you want more of me inside you? You’re a greedy girl.” She cold sense he was smirking. Somehow, on the verge of climax, he was smirking. His smugness nearly made her lose her mind.

“Yes I am!” She screamed, “You’re damn right I am!” By some miracle she was able to find just the words she needed. “Every last drop that you have to give me- I want it deep inside me! You know I want it! Now give it to me!”

Hearing his wife demand that he come for her sent him over the edge. He exploded into her with a force that made them both collapse. The laid together in a tangled, twisted heap on top of the table as his seed poured into her, filling her up and spilling onto his cape below them. 

Waves of aftershocks came and went. After what felt like an eternity they were finally able to catch their breath. As they drifted back into a normal state of consciousness, they were able to sense the now extremely uncomfortable crowd of officers and knights still patiently waiting outside the door. Ben could sense Hux’s rage was as high as it had ever been. Pride was equally seething at their disrespect. He couldn’t help but laugh at the oddly familiar feeling.

Rey looked up. “What are you laughing about?”

Ben smiled. “Let’s just say that this mission was successful on many fronts.”

“So what… we just get dressed and you let them in now?”

Ben looked around. “I don’t think we have much we can wear that’s in a presentable state, especially for a high command meeting.”

She smiled. “That’s right… you made sure of that.”

He looked down at his cape stained with their combined fluids of lovemaking. “I think you helped out a bit with that as well.”

Rey let out a satisfied sigh. He’d more than won this round and she’d enjoyed every minute of it. That was the great thing about sex- even when they made it a game between the two of them, they both won. 

She looked back up at him. “What do you say we get back to our part of the galaxy? As fascinating as I’m sure First Order high command meetings are, I don’t think there’s much discussed in them that I want to hear.”

Ben smiled, looking at the firmly locked door as he felt a weight fall from him. That door was going to remain locked until the end of time. He’d never have to sit through one of those terrible meetings again. “You have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this one! We're having work done on our house this week and baby's naps are all interrupted, leaving me much less writing time than I'd like. 😔 Hopefully it was worth the wait! I'm pretty sure Ben and Rey are satisfied with it. ❤️🔥


	40. Playing Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey get back to the Falcon after their time in the cave together. Rey hatches a plan to make sure Rose and Finn have an equally enjoyable evening together.

Ben and Rey walked back up the island towards the Falcon, still high on the rush from all they’d just done. The more Rey thought about it, the more she couldn’t get one specific part of what they’d just done out of her mind.

“Did any of that seem weird to you?”

Ben stared at her for a moment. “We just had sex on a ship that no longer exists inhabited by people we killed four months ago. Nothing about that seemed normal.”

“No, I mean, between that and Starkiller- we never levitated either time.”

“I figured that was because we never fantasized about that happening before. Neither of us knew that was possible when we’d think about each other.”

“That could be it…” Rey didn’t think it would be that simple “Or there could be more to it.”

“How so?” 

“Those were past projections of ourselves, versions of ourselves from before we were together. Our eyes were dark and we weren’t a united dyad yet, not like we are now. Things just felt... differently than they do now.” She thought for a moment on all she was trying to say. “Do you ever get the feeling that things don’t affect us like they used to?”

“All the time. Emotionally, spiritually, we’re more balanced than we’ve ever been.”

“Yes that, but also physically. Our bodies, we’re different than we used to be, physically as well as spiritually. It feels as if… as if the laws of time and space don’t quite affect us anymore, not like they used to.” 

Ben thought about it for a moment. Everything she was saying did feel right. 

A thought came over Rey. “Pull your shirt off for a second, I need to see something.”

“You can’t honestly still be in the mood after all-“

“Gods no Ben, I just need to check something.”

He did as she asked. She looked at his back and shoulders. It was just as she suspected.

“You were pelted by a ton of rocks this morning when you shielded me from the mosaic exploding, yet you don’t have a single bruise on you.”

He checked the backs of his arms, which he’d used to shield their heads.

“Oh wow… you’re right.”

“Neither of us has had a cut or a bruise in the months we’ve been together, and it’s not like we’ve been living easy lives.”

“That’s true...”

Rey stared out at the ocean. “Damnit we need R2 here so we can get to scanning and translating those texts side by side. We need to be able to really dive into them, not just skimming the basics.”

“I’m not too worried about it.”

Rey sighed, taking Ben’s hand. “Of course you’re not” Ben never seemed to worry about things like schedules and timing. He preferred living in the moment. Rey often found herself both in awe of and frustrated by his ability to believe things would happen right when they needed to. 

Ben went on. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon and until they do… we haven’t had any trouble finding things to keep us busy.” 

Rey smiled. “You make a good point. Getting to explore the island together hasn’t been… all bad.”

Ben Smiled back at her. “I’d say it’s been pretty good.”

*****

As soon as Rose saw Ben and Rey come into the Falcon she couldn’t help but notice they seemed even more cheerful than usual.

“You two look like you’re in a good mood. Your walk on the beach was a good one I take it?”

“A fabulous one.” A mischievous thought came over Rey. “Have you and Finn seen the suns set from the south end of the beach yet?”

“No, not yet. We haven’t been to that part of the beach at all. Should we check it out?”

“Absolutely.” Rey answered. Ben looked at her confused. They hadn’t yet seen the suns set from down there yet either.

 _Just go along with it sweetheart, trust me on this. ___

He knew better than to get in the way when she had a plan. 

Rey went on. “You two should go check it out this evening. It’s so gorgeous, with the waves crashing up against the shore and the cliffs overhead. It’s such a romantic spot down there, you’ll love it.” She looked up at Ben to back her up. 

“Oh yeah, it’s uh, it’s really great. You two should enjoy it.”

Rose was excited by the thought. “Awesome, maybe we will check it out. Would you two like to come with us?”

“No…” Rey faked a yawn. “I’m feeling a bit out of it. I think we’ll call it an early night.”

“Oh ok, well rest up!” Rose looked down the hall. “Hey Finn! Want to head down to the beach with me?”

Finn came down the hall to join them. “Yeah sure, what’s up?”

“Rey just said the southern stretch of the beach is a great spot to watch the suns setting. We’ve probably got a half hour before the suns set, want to start heading down there?”

“Sure let’s do it.” He looked at Rey and Ben. “Are you two coming with us?”

Rey answered. “We’re going to call it an early night. It’s been a long day.”

Finn remembered the state he’d seen the temple in. He had no doubt it had been quite a long day for both of them. “Right, you two rest up. We’ll see you in the morning.”

Once they were gone Ben turned to Rey. 

“What was that about?”

She giggled. “Well… we had such a fabulous afternoon, I figured they deserved a bit of fun too.”

“You don’t mean- you haven't told them about the cave yet have you?!”

“Of course not. They don’t have to get all the way down to the cave to feel it’s effects. The way we felt on the beach earlier- they’ll feel it too. Or at least Finn will. Whether or not it affects Rose I’m sure she won’t mind either way.”

“You just sent our friends into what can only be described as a sex vortex without them knowing...” Ben crossed his arms, leaning his head to the side. “…and you said I was the bad one?”

“Listen, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making sure your friends have an enjoyable night together.”

“Enjoyable is right. I just hope Rose is up for what you just sent them into.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “We’ve been together for four months Ben, have you really learned nothing about women yet?”

“I think everything we just did proves I’ve learned plenty about women.”

Rey smiled. He made a great point. “You know what I mean. We might not be as direct about it at first but women crave sex every bit as much as men do.”

Ben remembered just how much Rey had blown his mind in their fantasy. “That you do.”

*****

Later that night Ben and Chewie sat finishing up a game on the dejarik. Rey loved watching the two of them play together. Ben was the only person Chewie let win, a tradition that had begun when Chewie and Han taught Ben how to play as a child. 

The three of them heard Rose and Finn coming up the ramp into the ship. Before they saw them Rey could sense they were practically glowing. Her plan had worked. 

Rose was surprised to see her friends still awake when they got inside. “I thought you two were calling it an early night?”

Rey answered. “You know how it is when a heated game of holochess get’s going.”

“Don’t remind me.” Finn laughed. He’d yet to win a single game against Ben or Chewie and knew that wasn’t changing anytime soon.

Finn and Rose sat down to join them and watch the game. Rey had her eyes on the two of them as they beamed at each other, trying their best to rejoin the group but still on cloud nine from their beach rendezvous. 

Rey spoke up. “You two are in high spirits. An evening walk on the beach was a good suggestion I take it?”

“Oh yeah… it was…” Rose bit her lip looking at Finn who winked back at her. 

Rey couldn’t help but giggle, looking over at Ben. He smiled back at her. It was obvious how well her plan had worked. 

Finn looked at the two of them sensing something was up. “Wait… what did you two do?”

“Oh we didn’t do anything.” Rey responded, barely able to hold back more laughter. “We’ve just been up here playing holochess all night. Why do you ask?”

Finn stared at them trying to figure out what was going on. “This is some Force stuff isn’t it? The beach… there was something about it…”

“Oh? How so?” Rey couldn’t help but burst out laughing after she said it. 

Rose was grinning from ear to ear. After the fabulous evening she’d had, the drama playing out before her was even more entertaining. 

Ben spoke up. “Come on honey, you might as well tell them.”

Rey quieted down. “Ok, I’ll come clean. The beach down there, it’s right above a cave that’s strong with… well, forces that are encouraging for certain situations if you catch my drift.” She figured it was better to leave out the part about it being the dark side until they were ready to explain that more. “If you didn’t know to shield your mind to it, it’s like walking into a cloud of aphrodisiacs. It’s no coincidence the women caretakers from the island have their festivals with the men from the other island down there. It takes desire that’s already there and amplifies it. It gets stronger and stronger until it’s impossible to ignore. Ben and I hadn’t realized that until we were down there collecting rocks. Of course we ended up having a fabulous afternoon together and I figured you two deserved an enjoyable evening as well.” Rey smiled, extremely satisfied that her plan had gone so well. 

“So THAT’S how the Force works?” Rose was in awe. It was one of the greatest things she’d ever heard. She turned to Finn. “How come you never told me about that part of it?”

“I… didn’t know it was a thing.” Finn was stunned by the revelation. 

“Don’t worry man, we’ll make sure to explain it during your next training session.” Now Ben was the one who was laughing. 

Finn spoke back up. “I mean… that is pretty great. I thought the Force was just religious stuff like peace and meditating and all that...“

“That’s what we’re figuring out.” Rey responded, “There’s a whole lot more to it than what’s been covered in the past. The Force is making it pretty clear to us that we need to study all of its aspects in order to truly understand it.”

Rose didn’t hesitate to chime in. “Well… if that’s the case… I’m more than happy to help Finn with his studies on our own time.” The two women smiled at each other. Their time on the island with their partners was going to be even more fun than either of them had anticipated. 

“You know what…” A thought came over Finn. “I think I know who else we need to send down there once they get here.”

Rose’s eyes snapped to him. “Oh Finn… that’s brilliant!” 

Rey could already see a plan forming between the two of them. “Who?”

They looked back at her. “Poe and Zorri of course!” Rose answered. “Wait until you see the two of them. It’s almost adorable how confused two adults can be about how nuts they are for each other.”

“Seriously.” Finn agreed. “After five minutes around them you’ll be like ‘dear gods, can you two just get a room and get it over with?’.”

Rey couldn’t wait. The idea that someone other than herself in her friend group was confused about their relationship with another person was a welcome one. She couldn’t wait to be on the outside looking in. 

“Speaking of those two, any update on how far out they are?” Rey was eager to know how soon they could expect R2.

“Oh that’s right…” Finn looked back at Rey and Ben. “I forgot to tell you two, we got a message this afternoon that they’ll be here midday tomorrow. We’ll have to move the Falcon in the morning to another spot. Apparently Poe is bringing some enormous ship and needs the largest spot on the island to land.”

“Poe?" Rey asked, “Overzealous about a mission? Who would have thought.” Finn, Rose, Rey, and Chewie all laughed together at the thought. 

“I take it that’s something he’s known for?” Ben asked.

Rose shook her head. “You have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suddenly feel like I'm writing the Star Wars version of Coupling and I'm so here for it.
> 
> Here's some of our crew enjoying a lively round of Holochess, by the lovely Kasiopea


	41. Old Friends, New Challenges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Zorii finally make it to Ahch To with 3P0 and and R2. Of all the things Poe brought with them, two items in particular come as a big surprise for Rey- though they probably shouldn't have.

As the twin suns sat high in the sky Ben, Rey, Chewie, Finn, and Rose all stood waiting on the steps that led up from the landing area. They’d just finished moving the Falcon lower on the peninsula. Thankfully Ben and Chewie’s combined maneuvering had pulled it off fairly easily. 

Knowing Poe’s enthusiasm for missions Rey was anxious to see just how big of a ship he’d brought. The caretakers were already skeptical of her return to the island with so many newcomers. She knew this new arrival wouldn’t help relations between themselves and the locals. As she stood waiting she hoped Poe had had enough sense to be efficient about what all he’d brought with him. As soon as she saw the freighter appear in the sky she knew that wasn’t the case. 

A resistance freighter that dwarfed the Falcon flew around the island, the loud roar of its engines sending porgs flying in terror in every direction. Chewie hollered out at Poe’s disruption of local wildlife, knowing full and well he couldn’t hear him inside the ship. 

Being the best pilot in the Resistance came in handy as Poe maneuvered the large freighter onto the much-too-small landing area. By the grace of the Force he was somehow able to get it’s landing gear on just enough solid surface to make a steady landing. 

The group of friends breathed a collective sigh of relief when the ship touched down firmly in place. Moments later the entrance ramp dropped. Being that there wasn’t much space around the ship its ramp only extended half way, stopping unevenly on a few of the steps that led to the landing area. 

Poe came bounding out of the ship. “Looks like that will have to do! Not bad for my first time landing on this tiny little rock. Rey, you didn’t mention the landing pad was barely more than enough for an X wing.”

“Good to have you back too, Poe.” She said as she hugged him, smiling. She had mentioned the size of the landing area, of course she had, but he’d chosen to forget details like physical limitations- as was his way. "R2! and 3PO!" She squealed as the droids did their best to make their way up the slightly unstable ramp. "You two are a sight for sore eyes. We've got plenty of work for both of you."

R2 let out a flurry of excited beeps. 

"We're delighted to be here with all of you as well!" 3P0 replied "Ben Solo..." He said coming to Ben. Rey suddenly realized how long it had been since the two had seen each other. "It's been far too long since we last saw you. We are most grateful to see you among friends again."

"Good to see you too 3PO." Ben smiled at the droids, glad to have the two familiar friends from his childhood back with him. 

“Of course you all remember Zorri.” Poe said, turning to introduce her as she came off the ship behind him. Rey was stunned by her appearance without the helmet and tactical gear she’d been wearing when they’d met on Kijimi. She was still dressed sharply- a stylish grey tunic, dark green leggins, a matching bracelet and belt that reminded her a bit of Leia's style with jewelry, and of course no helmet as part of the ensemble. Rey couldn’t believe how beautiful she was, especially the cascade of light brown curls that fell past her shoulders. Her striking looks combined with the sharp wit Rey remembered made it clear why Poe had been so smitten. 

“Ah the crew!” Zorii smiled as she greeted all of them. “It’s good to finally be back amongst some familiar faces and not that political hell hole people call the capital.”

Rey heard Ben sigh. Hearing his former home called a hell hole wasn’t his favorite thing, but he couldn’t disagree with what she’d said about politics. He knew as well as anyone how a city changed once it became the center of galactic affairs. 

Poe and Zorii hugged all their friends, Zorii stopping when she finally came to Ben. 

“Can’t say I’ve met you before. I’m pretty sure I’d remember a face like that.” She was flirting with him, not that Ben realized it. Rey didn’t mind one bit, though she could tell Poe was a little less than thrilled. She figured that had been Zorii's intention. Zorii's ability to greet strangers with zero inhibitions was what Rey remembered liking most about her. “I’m Zorri.” She said holding out her hand to shake his. 

“I’m Ben.” He replied, shaking her hand a little stiffly. Zorii was the first person he’d met in a very long time that hadn’t had a negative reaction to seeing him. Rey could tell it was a little odd for him. The fact that she had never met Ben as his former self was a relief to Rey. One downside of their isolation had been that up until this point everyone he’d met had been former resistance members who’d known him at his worst. He’d finally have the chance to get to know someone without any negative connotations to overcome. 

Of course- everyone was aware Zorii knew who Ben was and what his past had been. There wasn’t anyone in the galaxy that didn’t know that. Still, Rey was grateful Zorri hadn’t made it weird. Part of her suspected Zorri was one of the last people in the galaxy that would make things weird. 

“Well, how about it Poe? What all did you bring us?” Rey couldn’t wait to see what all was inside the enormous freighter they’d flown all across the galaxy. 

“Right, let’s get to it! You guys are gonna love this.”

Poe led the group inside to show them all the spoils he’d been able to bring them to help get their new life on the island started. Crates full of construction materials were stacked to the ceiling, materials that would build new homes and buildings for them to use to make the island a self sufficient homestead. Behind that were more crates of furniture and fixtures to make the structures they built useful ones. Racks of droids of all kinds hung in rows next to them, ready to be activated to build the homes they’d live in and make their lives easier as they got started. Crates of seeds, soil, and other tools and supplies for starting to grow food were there as well. The thought of growing their own food was an exciting one for all of them. Most of their lives had been spent living off of what was given to them by whoever was in control of their lives at the time. Being able to make a sustainable life for themselves on the tiny island paradise they were creating was a dream come true. 

Rey made her way to the back of the ship, curious what else could be aboard. She stopped in her tracks when she saw what was behind all of it. The need for the size of the ship they’d brought suddenly became even more apparent. 

“TWO X wings Poe? Really?! I can maybe understand one for transportation, but why on earth do we need TWO? We’ve already got the Falcon here.”

“Well you know… you can’t have too many of these things around.” She could tell there was something he wasn’t telling her. 

“Did you see the size of the island? It’s very possible to have too much stuff here.”

“Fair enough, I get that, but…” She sensed he was trying to make up a reason as he went. “I just figured maybe the group might want to explore the planet a bit… do a little sightseeing… No sense hauling the whole Falcon around if we can travel… a bit more lightly.” 

He was looking back at Ben as he said it. Ben was already taking a good look over the two ships. It didn’t take much for Rey to realize exactly why Poe had brought two X wings. He had more than earned his reputation as the best pilot in the Resistance, but it was also well know that Ben had been the best pilot in the First Order. When flying his own custom Tie fighters, Ben had been unstoppable. No matter how good of a pilot someone was, there was little that could be done up against the best Tie fighters the First order could buy. Now though, Poe finally had a chance to level the playing field between himself and Ben. He wasn’t about to resist that opportunity. 

Rey shook her head at the realization. “Really Poe… sightseeing? Really?”

“What?” He stared back at her blankly, unwilling to admit how much he knew she was on to him. 

“So…” Zorii interrupted them, “Are we just going to stand around all day looking at cargo or do we get to see the rest of this island?” 

“Sounds like a plan, let’s head up to the village.” Rey was ready to get back outside. The last thing she wanted to think about was the inevitable event of Ben and Poe trying to outdo each other in the skies above Ahch To.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As if Rey doesn't have enough to worry about... looks like the men in her life are determined to never give her a moments peace.


	42. Competitive Advantage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Poe find themselves up at the crack of dawn for the same reason. In the midst of bonding over their love of flying and settling an old rivalry, Ben gets encouragement from somewhere unexpected.

The next morning Ben lay wide awake staring at the ceiling just before dawn. He couldn’t stop thinking about the X wings he’d seen on the freighter. He’d known exactly why Poe had brought them. Being a fighter pilot wasn’t something you put back on a shelf once you were done with it. The rush that came from pushing a machine up to and past limits- once you knew that feeling it became a part of you, something you thought about and craved every day as you went through the motions of day to day life. 

Seeing the Whisper as a heap of burnt metal had been harder on him than he’d expected. He’d thought he’d want to be rid of everything that represented that former life, yet he couldn’t help but remembering his time flying had been the only moments during his life on the dark side when he’d felt anything close to freedom. The feeling of being alone and being able to go anywhere and do anything was beyond liberating. The notion that he could just punch it to light speed and leave at any second always loomed in the back of his mind. Of course, he known well that was never really an option. He’d always been haunted by a false sense of destiny which held him back. Still, that feeling of freedom was always something he’d come back to when everything else had failed him. 

Since joining Rey on Tatooine Ben had everything he’d ever wanted, yet a part of him couldn’t help but miss the rush that came from flying. Not just flying the Falcon from one planet to another, but really flying- being in control of a machine that was built solely for speed and pushing it to its limits. He sensed peacetime had given Poe an equally predictable and safe lifestyle. He knew he was also itching for a reason to get back in the sky and see how far he could stretch the limits of possibility. 

Ben did his best to get out of bed quietly so as to not wake Rey. He knew the second she woke up she’d sense what he was up to. He made his way to the ship’s small kitchen, grabbed a light breakfast, then went outside to sit at the end of the peninsula. As he wolfed down his breakfast he watched the twin suns coming up the horizon. He stared up at the sky as it changed from purple to blue and imagined how good it would feel to finally get back up there. 

Suddenly he sensed he was being watched. He looked back up the island to where the Falcon had previously sat. Poe was standing on the freighter’s entrance ramp, finishing his morning coffee, staring down at Ben. He nodded towards the back of the ship as if to say "You ready to do this?" He’d had the same idea.

*****

Rey was in that sweet spot between sleep and wakefulness when she thought she heard X wings practicing dog fighting overhead. She must be dreaming, she told herself. She hadn’t heard that sound in a very long time. She and Ben were tucked away safe and sound on Ahch To where they never had to worry about things like X wings waking them up. She let herself drift back to sleep. Once or twice she thought she heard them again as the sound pushed her back towards wakefulness. She kept her eyes closed as she rolled over to Ben’s side of the bed to snuggle into him- but found that the bed was empty. 

Her eyes snapped open at the realization. The events of the previous day came flooding back to her as she remembered seeing the two X wings Poe had brought. 

“Seriously?!” She thought as she rubbed her eyes awake. 

She rushed to get dressed, grabbed something from the kitchen to stop her hungry belly from raging at her any more than it already was, and ran outside. 

Finn, Rose, and Chewie were already sitting on the hillside enjoying the show. 

“Woohooo!” Finn hollered as they flew back over again. 

“Rey! Come join us!” Rose shouted seeing her friend emerge from the Falcon. 

Rey was ready to jump into Ben’s mind and ask just what the hell he thought he was doing dogfighting at the crack of dawn, but she was stopped by a feeling of sheer joy that resonated from him. His level of joy let her know he was getting to do something his soul had craved for quite some time. If ripping through the skies above them first thing in the morning made him that happy, she wasn’t about to stop him. 

She trudged up the hill and plopped down next to Rose, shaking her head. “They really couldn’t wait a full 24 hours to go at it could they?”

Rose laughed. “Did you expect anything less?”

“I just- what the heck do they think they’re doing waking us all up like this?!”

Rose smiled. “I don’t think there was much of a plan to it. I think this is their way of strengthening their friendship by being chaotic idiots together, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. Rose made a good point. If anything was going to bond these two men together as friends, pushing each other past the point of sanity in the sky would certainly do it. She watched as red training lasers shot from each plane’s set of blasters. Pilots used lazers and sensors on the planes when they went up against each other in training. That way there was no real danger, other than the maneuvers they were pulling at breakneck speeds of course. 

“Any idea who’s winning so far?” Rey asked. 

“I’d say it’s pretty even.” Finn responded. “Poe’s certainly met his match. All the things he can normally get away with against other pilots, Ben’s right there with him and then some. I’m sure it’s driving him nuts.” He laughed. 

Rey noticed Zorii standing on the freighter’s entrance ramp, shielding her eyes from the suns as she looked up at the sky. She looked every bit as shocked as Rey had been a few minutes ago. 

“Zorii! Come join us! They’re putting on quite a show!” Rey yelled. 

Zorii made her way over to join them. “Talk about a wake up call!” She said, shaking her head.

“I’m sure the locals are loving it.” Rey laughed. Looking around she realized for the first time in a while she couldn’t see a single Porg anywhere. They’d all sought shelter from the hurricane of sound that rained down each time the planes passed by. Chewie had noticed the same thing and was taking mental notes of all the treats he'd bring them later to make up for it. 

Suddenly Rey remembered the caretakers. They usually were just getting to the village at this time of day to check on things. She turned and looked up at the village to see if any of them were there yet. 

Sure enough a crowd of them was gathering at the edge of the plaza. Their mouths hung open in shock at what they were witnessing. Rey feared it would be the final thing that got them kicked off of the island for good. 

Poe and Ben swooped by again. Their engines roared as they maneuvered around each other for the better position, sending flurries of lasers back and forth. 

“Woooop!” One of the caretakers shouted. “Wooooop Wooop! Woooop!” They were soon joined by a chorus of shouts. Rey looked back up at the village in awe as she realized the fish women were cheering them on. 

“Well that’s something I didn’t expect!” Rose laughed. She and Finn had had enough run-ins with the locals to know how protective they were of their island. “I guess if we’re not actually damaging anything they’re ok with it?” 

“I guess so!” Rey responded. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized they’d finally found something that made the locals happy to have them there. 

The twin suns crept higher in the sky as the morning rolled on. Every time the two planes flew by Rey could sense Ben’s excitement. He was in his element doing something he absolutely loved. The feeling warmed her heart as much as the sun’s rays on her checks. 

At the same time, a part of her couldn’t help but long for when she’d be able to join him up there. She knew that wouldn’t happen until the babies arrived, and most likely some time after that if everything she’d heard about newborns was true. She was glad Ben had someone here who could keep up with him until then. 

She reached down and rubbed her bump thinking about all the adventures that lay ahead for their little family. 

“Oh!” She felt something push back and jumped at the feeling. 

“What is it?” Rose looked at her concerned.

“I think- one of them just kicked me! Here feel right here.” She placed Rose’s hand on her belly where she’d felt something small pressing inside of her. 

The two planes rounded the far island then roared back by them. Sure enough there was another kick... and another... Both babies were punching and kicking in response to all the commotion they were hearing outside. 

“That’s amazing!” Rose squeeled. 

Rey waved the rest of her friends over. “You three come see! I think the sound of the planes has them all worked up!”

The group of friends crowded around her as she set their hands on her belly to feel the babies excitement. Each time the planes flew over they’d respond with a series of kicks and punches. 

“They’re cheering their daddy on! What sweet girls!” Rose beamed at Rey, realizing what a big moment this was for her friend. 

“They absolutely are!” Rey smiled looking back up at the sky. She couldn’t wait to tell Ben. She jumped into his mind to let him know the exciting news.

_You’ve got quite the cheering section down here! ___

_Oh? That’s… great… ___

She could tell his mind was more than a little preoccupied.

_The babies are going nuts kicking every time you fly over. They love the sounds of the planes! It’s so sweet! ___

_Really?! Oh wow… that’s- That’s amazing!!! I can’t wait to- oh SHIT ___

Poe had noticed Ben’s hesitation and had taken full advantage of it. Ben had to swoop around at the last second to avoid getting pelted with lazers. 

Rey gasped, realizing she’d come close to costing him dearly in their match up. 

_I'm sorry honey, I’ll leave you too it. It’s just so exciting I had to tell you. ___

_Thank you sweetheart. That’s really great! I can’t wait to feel their little kicks when we’re all done! ___

_I’ll make sure they save some kicks for daddy for after he’s done flying. I love you so much. ___

_I love you too, I- ah damnit... not again... ___

Rey realized she’d better stop distracting Ben if she wanted him to have any chance of beating Poe. She did her best to sit quietly, soaking up the feeling of two little sets of feet kicking up a storm inside her. 

After a few minutes her friends went and sat back down to continue watching the spectacle. Rey relaxed as she settled back into the grass. The two best pilots in the galaxy continued flying back and forth overhead, doing their best to settle once and for all who the better pilot was between the two of them. Though it had distracted him for a moment, Rey had a feeling letting Ben know he had an extra cheering section had given him a competitive advantage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben is going to absolutely fall to pieces when he gets to feel baby kicks for the first time... 😍❤️😭👶🏻👶🏻


	43. From One Game to the Next

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Ben check the results of their match up. After that's settled Rey has another plan she'd like to set in motion.

Rey’s stomach grumbled loudly as she realized how long they’d been sitting there. 

“Hungry momma?” Zorii smiled at her.

“I guess so. We’ve been out here for a while and I’ve only just had a small breakfast.”

“Let’s head up to the freighter.” Zorii looked back at the large ship. “I’m sure all of you are tired of eating the same stuff you’ve had on the Falcon for weeks. Once they see we’ve headed in maybe they’ll get the hint and come down.”

Up on the freighter Rey inhaled the spread Zorii had put out for them. She’d never seen so many different kinds of meats, cheeses, and vegetables all in one place. 

“Ugh I’ve missed this stuff!” Rose said, enjoying one of the sweeter cheeses that had a mix of berries spread over it. 

“Where did you get all of this?” Rey asked, stunned by the variety.

“Compliments of the capital!” Zorii smiled. “That’s the one good thing about a big city- the food never disappoints. Enjoy it now because monthly shipments won't be this generous. We’ll be growing our own stuff soon enough.” 

Rey knew how true that was. As far out as they were on Ahch To they’d need to produce as much of their own food as they could if they wanted any kind of variety in their diet. The capital would send supply shipments regularly but with the long distance that needed to be traveled they’d have to be efficient about what they chose to have sent to them. 

Suddenly Ben was in Rey’s mind.

_Where did everyone go? ___

_We’re on the freighter having some lunch. Wait until you see what Zorii and Poe brought. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen! ___

_Perfect, I’m starving. We’ll be down there in a second. ___

Less than a minute later they heard the two X wings coming in for a landing. The sound of engines roared through the ship as they came in through the back loading doors and landed. 

“Eeek! Now we get to see who won!” Rose squealed.

“This should be good.” Finn couldn’t wait. 

The group headed to the back of the ship as quickly as they could. Both X wing’s cock pit doors flew open and Ben and Poe jumped out to meet them. Rey’s heart burst at the sight of Ben in an orange resistance flight suit. The way his hair fell in his face when he took his flight helmet off reminded her of how much she loved when he’d taken that other helmet off. Of course, she preferred this look much, much more. 

Rey sensed strong emotion coming from Chewie and looked back at him. Seeing Ben like this had reminded him of Han and Luke. She took his hand and squeezed it, letting him know she sensed what a big moment this was for him. 

At the same time she sensed strong emotion from Zorii for an entirely different reason. There were few things more attractive than a pilot coming down from the high of flight. Seeing Poe like that was having its affect on her. Rey remembered that feeling well- having every part of her longing for someone that her head stubbornly told her she shouldn’t feel anything for. She wasn’t sure what was holding Zorii back, but she knew it couldn’t be anything like what she and Ben had faced. She made a mental note to make sure she and Poe got to see the south end of the beach together sooner than later. 

“Orange suits you.” Rey said to Ben as he came up to her. He took her in his arms and kissed her. 

“I didn’t think orange suited anyone.” He laughed at the thought.

“Well, it would be particularly difficult for you to make anything look bad.” She said smiling up at him.

“Alright you two that’s enough of that, let’s check these stats.” Poe was eager to see how well they’d matched up, and more importantly who’d come out on top. 

Ben and Poe got R2 and BB8 unloaded. The two droids sat side by side, tallying their scores. They beeped to let their humans know they were ready. 

“Let’s see it!” Poe said to the droids.

They each shot out a holographic score, R2 displaying Ben’s stats and BB8 displaying Poe’s. Shock came over Poe as he stared at the numbers side by side. Ben slowly broke out into the biggest smile.

“You beat me?!” Poe stared at the numbers, rereading them over and over again in disbelief. He then turned back to Ben. “You beat me! I can’t remember the last time I lost a practice run… Great flying man!” He patted him on the back.

“Thanks!” Ben responded, beaming at the affirmation. “You didn’t make it easy.” Rey couldn’t remember a time she’d been more proud of him. 

“Ha HA!” Finn laughed. “Looks like you’ve met your match Poe! Never would have thought we’d see the day.”

Poe smiled. “It is nice to have someone who can keep up. The skies have been a little boring with no ties raining down on us.”

“I’m sure I could figure out a way to fix that if you’re feeling nostalgic.” Ben remarked.

Poe stared at him for a second, unsure what to think. 

“It was a joke.” Ben responded, laughing.

Poe smiled again. “Aaaaaa- I KNEW I liked this guy!” He said, pulling Ben in for a side hug. Ben’s laughter faded. Unfortunately for Ben, Poe had picked up on how much he hated hugs and had taken it up as his personal mission to change that. 

Rey admired Poe’s optimism. “Let’s get you flyboys some lunch...” She said, trying her best not to laugh. Her thoughts were interrupted by a series of kicks and she knew just what Ben needed to make his victory even sweeter. 

“Ben look!” She said, reaching out and grabbing his hand, placing it on her belly. “They’re kicking again! They must be excited to know their daddy did so well!” His eyes went wide with wonder as he felt little kicks pushing up under his hand from inside of her. 

“Oh wow…” he said, his face full of emotion. He’d never felt anything so incredible. He knelt down and put both hands on either side of her belly, resting his face against her womb. He wanted to sense as much of their movement as he could. He could feel the strength of the Force flowing through them as they danced around for him. He was in total awe of the miracle happening inside his wife. 

“Pretty cool huh?” Rey’s voice cracked as she smiled down at him, eyes glistening with tears. 

Ben stood back up, wiping tears from his own eyes. “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt.”

They heard Rose sniff behind them and looked back to see her wiping tears away as well. “Oh you guys! This is too much!” She cried. Finn Put his arm around her and held her tightly. 

At that moment Zorii Leaned over to Poe and whispered “Is this how it's always going to be here?”

Poe mumbled back “Yeah, pretty much. This is about what I expected.”

Zorii smiled looking back at the group. “Awesome.”

*****

After an afternoon of checking potential building sites for upcoming projects the group were making plans about how they’d spend their evening. Rey remembered what she’d been thinking about earlier that day and spoke up. 

“Poe and Zorii, you two haven’t been down to the south end of the beach yet, have you?”

“No not yet.” Zorii responded. “Is it worth checking out?” 

“Definitely” Rey replied. “In fact right at sunset is the perfect time. You’ve probably got an hour or so. I’d say it’s the best place to watch the suns set on the island, don’t you guys think so?” She said looking at her friends for back up.

Rose, Finn, and Ben did their best to act casual as they replied. “Oh yeah” “Definitely.” “You two should totally check it out…. Tonight.”

Poe could sense something was up but wasn’t too worried about it. Enjoying a sunset on the beach with Zorii was exactly the kind of evening he was in the mood for. “Great. Will… anyone else be joining us?” He hoped not, but figured he’d better ask.

Rey spoke up. “I think Ben and Finn were planning on seeing if they could catch something off the cliffs for dinner, right guys?”

The two men looked back at her, realizing she already had this planned out. “Oh yeah, we should head down there.” Finn replied. Ben nodded in agreement. 

Rey went on. “And Rose and I will need to get the fire pit set up for cooking tonight. But don’t worry about us, we’ve got it handled.”

“Are you sure? We don’t mind helping.” Zorii replied. 

“No, no we’re good! You two go check out the beach.” Rose smiled. 

“Perfect, well let’s get to it.” Poe was already heading out as Zorii skipped ahead to catch up with him. She turned back to say goodbye to everyone. 

“Guess we’ll see you guys later!” She waved.

Once they’d disappeared over the hill the four friends smiled at each other, realizing just how well the plan had unfolded. 

“Well tonight should be interesting… Guess we’d all better get ready for dinner!” Rose said excitedly.

“Let’s hope we catch something big.” Finn laughed. “They’re probably gonna work up an appetite.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the two day delay on updating! This weekend was my little one's first birthday and we were busy celebrating! Glad to be back with these characters at the start of a new week. ❤️


	44. Family History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friends share a meal by the fire pit as Poe and Zorii deliver some exciting news.

That night Ben, Rey, Rose, Finn, and Chewie sat around the fire pit in the village plaza together roasting freshly caught swordfish. Poe and Zorii still hadn’t returned from their walk on the beach. The suns had dipped below the horizon and the only light was that of the fire and the multitude of stars overhead. 

“It’s been a while… do you think we should go check on them?” Rose asked. The friends looked at each other, starting to question if their plan had been a good idea.

“Let’s give them a little longer.” Rey replied. “One of us would have sensed if they were in trouble. I’m sure they’re fine.”

A few minutes later they heard two people coming up the back of the hill behind the village. Laughter echoed through the darkness off the stone cliffs and dwellings. Their laughter was all the reassurance the friends needed to know everything had gone as well as they’d hoped. 

Stepping into the plaza Poe and Zorii couldn’t take their eyes of each other. The light of the fire illuminated their smiles as they rejoined their friends. Poe didn’t waste any time telling the group about his good news. 

“So… Zorii and I have an announcement.” He smiled back at her taking her hand. She tucked a couple loose curls behind her ear, beaming at him. “We’re together- like, officially.” 

The group did their best to act surprised by the news. “Oh wow!” “That’s great!” “Congrats you two!” “How exciting!”

An awkward silence settled over them. They hoped their reactions had been convincing. Finally Rose was the first to speak up. 

“So, I guess seeing the sunsets down there was a good idea after all?” She and Rey smiled at each other, trying their best not to giggle.

Poe could tell something was up. 

He looked right at Ben and Rey. “Wait… What did you two do?”

“Oh they didn’t do anything!” Rose responded, still holding back laughter. 

Rey knew it would be better to tell the truth sooner than later. “Ok, we’ll be honest- there’s something about the Force down there that makes certain emotions… harder to ignore. It makes sure you feel things you might not have been honest with yourself about. It takes whatever you’re feeling and just makes everything… a little clearer.” It wasn’t a lie.

“What?” Poe looked confused. Zorii just stared at the group wide eyed, unsure what to think. They’d both heard enough about the Force to know it was real, but certainly hadn’t heard about anything like that. 

Finn reassured them. “Don’t worry, they did it to me and Rose too.” He smiled back at his wife. “Gotta say I didn’t mind it.”

“So wait… how did you figure that out? And who did what now?” Zorii was clearly intrigued. 

Rey decided she’d better tell them the whole story. “It all started when Ben and I were collecting rocks on the beach one day. It didn’t take long to realize what was happening. Needless to say it was a fabulous afternoon for both of us. When we came back up to the Falcon I told Rose she and Finn they should go check out the suns setting down there. I wanted to see if it affected others like it did for us. Later that night they came back with smiles as big as you two have now. Seeing how you two were together, well, we all agreed you could use some time down there alone together.” 

“Wow… that’s… pretty amazing.” Zorii smiled, looking at Poe to gauge his reaction. 

Poe was still piecing it together. “So wait… you sent us down to that beach knowing full and well what was going to happen?” 

Ben spoke up. “I think it’s fair to say everyone’s been on to you two for some time. Even I know you’ve been into each other since you met up on Kijimi.”

Poe stared at Ben for a moment, unable to deny it. He cleared his throat. “How would you know that, Ben?”

Ben realized everyone was looking at him, confused by his revelation. He realized he’d just told on himself and there was no going back without telling the rest of the story. “I… um, I may have checked in on Rey through our bond while all of you were there with 3P0. It was one of the first thoughts I saw in her mind- ‘Poe and Zorri are clearly into each other.’ “ Rey rolled her eyes, remembering the intrusion. 

Poe saw right through it. “So you checked in on Rey, on Kijimi… like… out of concern for her wellbeing?” The look on his face let him know he wasn’t buying it. 

Ben sighed, ready to fess up. “I was trying to get intel on the Resistance, yet all I could hear was who in the Resistance was into each other. I guess you could say it’s about as much as I deserved.”

Poe looked around. “You Force users are an interesting bunch.” He finally broke into a smile. “Never gonna be a dull moment here huh?”

“That’s for sure.” Fin said smiling. 

“Well that’s how we like it.” Poe said as he and Zorii finally sat down to join the group. They were on cloud nine from what all had just happened and a realization about how exactly it happened wasn’t going to spoil it for them. 

Rose scooted over next to Zorii, eager to get figure out more about what they’d been up to over the past few weeks. “So, how did Poe end up convincing you to come all the way to Ahch To to join us?

“If I’m honest, I tried my best to say no. It’s hard to say no though when you’re offered a job by the high and mighty war hero Poe Dameron.” There was more than a little sarcasm in her tone, which made Rey like Zorii even more. 

Ben looked at Poe as a thought dawned on him. “Dameron… wait… I knew I’d heard that name before. Are you Shara and Kes Dameron’s son?”

“Every day of my life.” Poe replied.

Ben smiled, turning to Rey. “Our mother’s fought together during Operation Cinder on Naboo. They-” Suddenly a confused look came over his face as he looked back at Poe. “So wait… you said you two met when you were a spice runner on Kijimi? How did you mange to end up there?!”

Poe’s head dropped as he looked at Ben, eyebrows raised. “Really, Ben? Out of everyone here you are asking me how someone from a respected family ends up on a not so respected path in life?”

Ben realized the irony of what he’d just done. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked up at the stars. “That’s more than fair.”

Rey tried hard to stifle a giggle and failed. She’d missed Poe’s brutal honesty. “Respected families…” She said, shaking her head. Without thinking she added her own bit of sarcasm to the conversation. “That must have been hard for you boys. If only you’d had lineage like mine, I had nowhere to go but up.”

Poe stared at her confused. “Wait, Rey, what are you talking about? I thought you never knew your family?”

Rey suddenly realized what she’d let slip. All of her friends were staring back at her confused, except for Ben of course. The look on his face was pure fear for his wife and what she’d almost just admitted to. 

Rey took a deep breath. She knew these were people she could trust. Having them there with her and Ben was proof enough of that. For the first time in her life she felt she was done hiding her true self from the people she cared about most. She looked around at all of them, choosing her next words carefully. What she said next shocked Ben, mostly because of the casual tone she delivered the news with. 

“I guess I forgot to mention that after Exegol. I had a lot on my mind that day. Turns out it was a bit of a family reunion. My birth name was Rey Palpatine. My father was the Emporer’s son.”

“WHAT?!” A chorus of confusion erupted from her friends. It was the last thing any of them could have imagined in their wildest dreams. 

“Damn…” Zorii was stunned. The last thing she’d expected was to learn something that serious about someone she’d just met. 

“Rey you can’t be serious…” Finn was staring at her like she’d just told him she had six weeks to live. 

“Yes, I’m serious. Don’t worry, it was quite a shock to me to. It’s like Poe was saying, our families don’t always determine where we end up in life.”

“Well said.” Rose replied, admiring her friend’s honesty. She was the only one who seemed unfazed by it. 

“Well, we’ll make sure to keep that a secret between us for your sake.” Poe was always one to think ahead. 

An awkward silence again settled over the group. No one knew what to say next after that revelation. Rey looked at Ben. She was ready to distract the group from what she’d just revealed.

_Now seems like a good time for a fire show huh? ___

_I’m on it. ___

Ben looked deep into the flames of the firepit where the strongest combustion was taking place. He used the Force to lift a ball of fire out of it, floated it up over the group, letting it and grow as it got higher and higher. Rey was staring intently at it. When it got to a certain height she lifted her right hand and sent bolts of green lightning up to it. The combination of forces caused the fireball to explode in a shower of green sparks that flew out in every direction. The sparks drifted down, fading before they got anywhere near the group of friends. 

“Woohoo!” Finn cheered on the display. Ben and Rey repeated the process, varying the size of the fireballs and the explosions they produced. 

Poe and Zorii sat frozen in place, mesmerized by what was unfolding in front of them. After a minute of witnessing Ben and Rey literally playing with fire Poe leaned over to Rose.

"What are they doing?”

She smiled. “It’s like you said, never a dull moment around Force users.” 

“And the green lightning? What’s that all about?”

“I’m not really sure. The longer they’re together here the more tricks they seem to pick up. Finn thinks blue lightning is when she’s angry and green lightning is when she’s having fun, or something like that.”

“Huh… interesting.”

She could tell Poe wasn’t sure what to think. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

“I guess I’ll have to.”

*****

That night back on the Falcon Rey and Ben lay in bed together, exhausted after a long day. Rey could sense Ben was thinking about what she’d shared with their friends.

“You’re thinking about what I brought up at dinner, aren’t you?”

“It’s hard not to.”

Rey sighed. “These are my friends Ben, you know that. The fact that they’re all the way out here with us is proof enough that we can trust them with our lives.”

“It’s not that I’m worried about. You know I trust them fully.”

“What is it then?”

“I’m just thinking about the girls.” He reached down, placing a hand on her belly. 

Rey turned to look at him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah… I do.” Two little sets of feet kicked back to let him know they felt his presence. “Knowledge like that haunts a family. I only had one side I had to worry about and we know how that ended up. How are we ever going to tell them who their great-grandfather’s were?”

Rey thought about it for a moment. “I think we’ll tell them what you told me on Naboo. We’ll tell them that families are so much more than any one person, or any two people in their case.”

Ben smiled remembering their picnic on Naboo. “I guess you’re right.”

Rey laid her head back on his chest. “And if we’re lucky, by the time they’re old enough for us to tell them about family history we’ll have plenty of accomplishments of our own to share with them that they can be proud of.”

“Defeating the Emperor and cheating death are two pretty great accomplishments.”

Rey laughed. “That’s true. Maybe now that we’ve got the tools we need we can actually figure out how you managed to pull off the second one.”

“Honestly if we never figure it out, I’m fine with that too.” He thought about that for a moment. “Something tells me you’re never going to rest until we do though.”

She smiled back up at him. “You’re right about that. I want to know who and what I’ve got to be grateful to for giving me back the greatest blessing in my life.”

He kissed her on the forehead as she turned into him and she snuggled back into his chest. They laid together in silence for a while, feeling the excited movements of their daughters. Eventually the kicks settled down and Ben noticed Rey had dosed off to sleep. He laid there and watching her sleep for a while, thinking of all the adventures that lay ahead for them and their family. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve the paradise he now found himself in. All he knew was he was going to do everything he could to make the most of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing livens up a dinner party like a roaring fire and embodiments of the cosmic and living Force. 🔥🎆


	45. A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple months have passed since Poe and Zorii arrived, and the Falcon is getting a little tight for mama Rey. Luckily for her that's all about to change.

Rey laid out several copied pages of texts to study on the Dejarik and did her best to squeeze herself into the bench that surrounded it. Three months had passed since Poe and Zorii’s arrival and her ever expanding belly was making getting around the Falcon and the island much more difficult. 

Being seven months pregnant on an island littered with stairs was anything but ideal. Every step up brought the weight of several pounds of baby down on her cervix, and the one slip she’d had around five months had been enough for Ben’s overprotectiveness to go into overdrive. He’d insisted anytime she needed to go up or down one of the island’s endless flights of stone steps that he’d accompany her and levitate her along side him wherever she needed to go. 

As much as she knew he was right to do so, the last thing Rey wanted to feel like was a baby herself, needing to be carried around wherever she went. Whether it was independence or stubbornness, she did her best to make up as many excuses as she could to avoid going places on the island. Most of her days were spent on the Falcon studying the pages of texts they’d copied and translated. Needless to say she had plenty to keep her busy. 

Ben split his time between studying with her, training with Finn, and working with the others on getting their homes built. Thanks to the army of droids Poe had brought with them the homes were nearly finished. The group had decided to add more stone huts on to the village so that their presence didn’t take away from the appearance of the island, but rather added a new chapter to the centuries of history that the village represented. 

Ben, Rey, and Finn’s Force abilities made it easy to make the most of the abundance of rocks to be found on the island. Collecting piles of rocks from the beach and ocean floor below and floating them into place to construct their homes had been a manageable task between the three of them. It was also great practice for Finn to work on control and precision as he levitated the rocks into place. Corbelling thousands of rocks together to create sturdy living spaces was excellent practice for a new Force user. 

Just as they’d planned, Ben and Rey’s hut was located on top of where Rey’s former hut had stood during her time training with Luke. Being that it would need to house at least a family of four instead of a single person the new hut was much larger. Its diameter extended out into the open plaza, as well as a little over the cliff thanks to newly added support walls built on the cliffs below. 

The other two new huts were built behind the original huts on top of the hill where a strip of flat ground extended behind the village. Rey had been thrilled to hear Rose and Finn planning a similar family-friendly sized hut to their own. The thought of them starting their own family soon was everything she’d hoped for. 

Not wanting to be outdone, Poe had planned his and Zorii’s hut to be as large as the other two. Zorii had coyly protested they “wouldn’t ever need that much space” but Poe had assured her it was “Just in case they ever had visitors to the island, they’d be able to stay with them”. The fact that visitors was what they’d all come to the island to avoid, and there were still six vacant huts and two ships with space for people to bunk, didn’t need mentioning. 

Once they’d constructed the walls out of stone the group had set to working on the interiors. Ben had wanted the final reveal of their home to be a surprise for Rey, just like their homestead on Tatooine had been. That hadn’t been hard to manage with her spending most of her time studying texts on the Falcon. 

This particular morning she was studying pages from both the light and dark texts on something called The Chain Worlds Theorum. It was a theory put forth by several ancient scholars that a realm of the Force existed outside of the world of the living and the dead. It was something between death and life that appeared to bend the rules of time and space itself. The more they read about it, the more it sounded all too familiar to what Ben had passed through in his time between Exegol and Tatooine. 

Rey was studying a page that linked Ahch To to Exegol when Ben jumped into her mind.

_I’ve got something for you to see up here. Do you think you can tear yourself away from those old books for a little while? ___

_Tear myself away from these page turners? I thought you’d never ask. ___

Rey jumped as Ben appeared before her a few seconds later.

“You know I hate it when you do that. Give me a warning next time.”

“Oh right… sorry.”

Disappearing in one place and reappearing in another was an ability he’d had immediately after coming to Rey on Tatooine that he’d mysteriously lost soon after. Oddly enough, after being on the island for a couple months he’d rediscovered he could do it again. Rey knew she should have the same ability, but was too afraid to try in her condition. She wasn’t sure how breaking the laws of physics would affect the babies and wasn’t about to take any chances. Abilities that came and went and the rules that surrounded them were just one of many mysteries they had yet to solve on their Force to-do list. 

Together they made their way up to the village. Rey marveled at the beauty of the three new stone huts that had been added to the village’s outline. The large windows that faced the ocean were their own modern twist on the dwellings that she couldn’t wait to enjoy. She wondered how long it would take for their home's stones to gain a mossy, time worn patina like the other huts. She figured it would be quite some time. Doting the hillsides around where their huts stood she spotted several large black panels glistening in the midday sun. It was the solar array that would use Ahch To’s twin suns to power everything they needed to make life on the island more comfortable. 

On the flat strip of land that reached out above the village she spotted several vegetable gardens. The closer she got to the village the more she saw how well the crew had made use the terrain surrounding the village. Every flat, fertile spot now had a small raised garden, and a patchwork of terraces had been added wherever the terrain was sloped. Every fertile spot of land around the village had been reclaimed for growing food. The once abandoned stone village now burst with life. They hadn't even made it inside their hut yet and already Rey had never felt so at home. By making the most of all the capital had provided for them, they had everything they needed to sustain themselves on the island for as long as they wanted. 

“Where is everyone?” Rey asked when they got to the plaza. The plaza was empty and she could sense their hut was as well. 

“They decided to go for a hike on the other end of the island. I figured it would be better to see it just the two of us first, just like on Tatooine.”

The excitement in Rey's heart continued to grow. The way Ben had revealed their desert homestead to her had been one of her favorite memories of theirs so far. She couldn’t wait to see what he had waiting for her inside their new home together. 

When they got to the front door Ben stopped her. “You know how this works, close your eyes.”

Rey did as he asked. She heard him open the door and felt him take her hand as he led her through it. The smell of a freshly completed interior was something she’d never experienced. Scents of freshly finished wood and paint hit her as her skin bristled with anticipation. 

“Ok, now you can look.”

She opened her eyes and gasped at the sight before her. It was everything they’d dreamed of and so much more. The large windows she’d admired from the outside framed the ocean view to her right. A small wood deck for meditation extended beyond them, wrapping around the side of the hut that hung over the cliff. The wood of the deck continued inside, tying the inside and outside spaces together. The cold stone floor had been covered in softer wood to make the living space more comfortable. The natural light that spilled in from the windows illuminated the cozy living area as well as the small, open kitchen to her left. The two spaces shared the high domed stone ceiling of the hut. The hut was cut in half in the middle by a wall which she knew must have hidden their bedroom behind it. Set into the wall was a ladder that led to a loft above.

“What’s that for up there?” Rey asked pointing to the loft.

“There’s a couple of children’s beds up there. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be here so I made sure to include space for the girls once they got big enough to want a sleeping area of their own.”

Rey could sense it was as much hope as practicality that had made him think that far ahead. A part of her couldn’t help but feel the same way. Raising their family together in the peace and serenity that Ahch To gave them would be a dream come true. She hoped destiny would let them have plenty of time on the island together before it called them back to play their part in the bigger events of the galaxy. 

“Are you ready to see the best part?” Ben asked, eager to show her a special surprise he’d planned for some time. 

“Absolutely.” She replied.

He led her to two sliding doors on the wall that separated the spaces and opened into their bedroom. A window to the right continued the framing of the ocean view from the living area. Light from the window poured in over the wide family bed that was built into the floor. A hand tied bunch of freshly picked white, purple, and yellow wildflowers laid up against the pillows. The focal point of the room was a large circle that had been stained into the wood floor. It stretched from the back of the wall under the center of their bed to the point where they were standing in the door way, framing the space and their family bed perfectly. Rey knew immediately what it symbolized.

“Is that…”

“The footprint of the old hut that used to stand here?” He nodded, smiling. 

Tears welled up in Rey’s eyes as she thought of what all that space meant, what all they’d been through to get to that moment. If the tiny homestead they’d shared together on Tatooine had been their castle, this was their paradise. The space before them brought their past, present, and future together in the most beautiful way imaginable. It was where the Force had first connected them. it was where they’d spend their last few months together as a couple alone, and soon it would be where she’d nurse their babies and cuddle them to sleep as their family grew. 

“Ben… it’s perfect…” She said as she turned to wrap her arms around him, kissing him as tears spilled down her cheeks. She pulled away to look back up at him. “Ever since we touched hands here through our bond, all I could think about was getting back to this place, that feeling of being connected as one.”

“We both did.” He said smiling down at her. “So I take it I did a good job?” 

“Yes! It’s wonderful!” She replied, looking around at the perfection of the bedroom and living area. “Everything’s so thought out and beautiful- you thought of everything we’d need.”

“Check this out.” He said walking to the couch and the table in front of it. He gave both a good shove, neither of which budged. “Everything’s secure and built in.”

Rey laughed. “That’s handy. We wouldn’t want to turn everything upside down our first night here would we?”

“Not just that. From what I remember of my childhood force sensitive toddlers can wreak a lot of havoc on a space. All the cabinets are secure and latch shut as well. Our drawers in the bedroom are the same way. Nothing is getting flung across this space by accident except maybe pillows and blankets which I think we can handle.”

“That could actually be a lot of fun.” Rey smiled, thinking of future pillow fights with their daughters. “So wait where’s the bathroom?”

“Oh right, back this way.” He led her back through the bedroom to a door on the left. “It’s small, but like everything else it’s all we need and nothing more.”

“It’s height of luxury compared to what I’m used to. Not having to share a toilet with several other people will be a welcome change.” She looked around at the shower and the sink, all of which were just for the two of them. “I can’t believe this is all just for us!”

Ben smiled. “It is pretty great.” He loved seeing how thrilled she was with the space. He’d spent the past couple months trying to get every square foot of their home just right. From Rey’s excitement he could tell he’d succeeded. “So should we invite the neighbors over to check it out or wait till later?”

Rey looked up at the celling, as if she were pondering a difficult decision. “I do think there’s one more thing we need to do before we invite anyone over for tea.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m gonna need you to prove to me this bed is as comfortable as it looks.” With that she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back into the bedroom. He followed eagerly, ready to do all the things he’d wanted to do to her on that very spot the night they’d first touched hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been looking forward to this chapter since the beginning. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> ****Warning -NSFW image below!****
> 
> Edit- Months after writing this chapter, I stumbled upon an image of a bathroom that looked a lot like what I imagine Ben and Rey's bathroom would look like! 
> 
> Here's a manip of the Solo's enjoying their new bathroom!  
>    
> 


	46. A Dream, A Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find our OTP in a life they've never known together, one that very easily could have been.

Empress Tazla Ren finished dressing her daughters as she got them ready for a rare treat- the chance sit with their mommy and daddy in the Throne Room. Two big black bows were the finishing touch on their matching outfits she’d picked out for the special occasion. 

As she walked down the corridor with them officers and storm troopers stepped aside and bowed to their empress and her two little princesses as they passed. Tazla did her best to ignore them, staring forward coldly as always, focused on the task ahead. No matter how long she had been in this life, she would never get used to the mandatory displays of respect she encountered every time she passed one of her underlings. 

She stood silently in the elevator as she rode up with the girls, the three of them finally alone. The elevator was the last space they had to pass through before entering the throne room. She looked down at her own knee length dress, making sure the leather was as spotless and perfect as it needed to be. The girls twirled around together, admiring their own dresses. Suddenly Tazla grabbed her daughter’s hands, stopping what they were doing. 

“Rey…” 

She clasped their hands tightly, holding them still as she heard the whisper fade. Her eyes darted around the small space frantically, desperately trying to find the hiding spot of the insolent traitor who’d dared utter her former name. She found nothing. Only the silence and emptiness of a space she knew well. 

Realizing her mistake she quickly let go of the girl’s hands, smiling down at them as they went back to playing. She did her best to shake the thought from her mind. It must have been an echo from her past life, a pathetic attempt from the light to call her back to a life she knew she would never return to. 

The door to the throne room slid open as they arrived. Both girls boots clicked on the hard floor as they ran down the walkway to greet their father.

“DADA!” The first squeeled.

“Ky-o WEM!” The second shrieked.

Tazla smiled down at her girls as she joined them. 

“Now, now sweetheart, this is your Dada. Our sweet little girls don’t use that name.”

“She’s just showing respect for her Supreme Leader.” Kylo said, picking his daughter up and kissing her on the check as he stood to greet his family. “How are you this morning darling?” He asked, taking his wife in his other arm and kissing her on the forehead. 

“I’m fine.” she lied. She already had walls up in her mind to hide the truth. She didn’t dare tell him about the whisper she’d heard on the elevator. 

“Wonderful.” He replied, letting go of her and picking up their other daughter. “I’ve looked forward to this day with my girls for a long time.”

“Me too.” Tazla smiled back, doing her best to muster the happiness she knew she was supposed to feel for that moment. 

Today was the first time the four of them would sit together for an official portrait as the royal family of the Final Order. It would be the first image the galaxy knew of their rulers- one that would inspire both fear and love for the family who’d brought true order to the galaxy. 

Kylo and Tazla sat fixed on their thrones, staring forward as the girls played with a pair of children’s droids on the floor in front of them. There was no chance of getting two toddlers to sit still for any period of time, especially somewhere as exciting as their parent’s throne room. The portrait artist did their best to capture them as they moved around. 

Kylo leaned over to his wife, whispering. “My girls look pale. Did they get enough to eat this morning?”

“Of course they did.” Tazla snapped back. She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to suggest a lapse in her skills as a mother. “They always do. You’d know that if you were ever around enough.” She felt her words burn into him. 

Kylo sighed, doing his best not let his anger spoil the moment. “Running the galaxy is a time consuming job sweetheart. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“I would understand if you let me help you.” She replied. 

“You know your place is with our daughters.” He shot back. Her stubbornness was getting the better of him. “None of our foolish parents were ever around for us. I won’t have them know that pain.”

“Of course... this is all for them.” She said with a sigh. 

“It absolutely is.” Kylo snapped back. “Everything we do is for them. This is their destiny- they have an entire galaxy at their feet and they’re not even two years old yet. Do you remember what we had at their age? Certainly nothing like this. Your life on the run and my parents who never had any time for me… they’ll never know what that’s like. They have everything they could ever want and so much more.”

“Of course they do.” She did her best to smile and pretend to agree. She didn’t have it in her to argue, especially not on a morning she was supposed to be excited about. 

Kylo settled back into his throne, calming himself and doing his best to put on a happy face for what should have been a joyous occasion with his family. He knew what he needed to do to make up for the near outburst. 

He reached his hand over and curled it around his wife’s. He felt her tense up for a moment at his touch, but it quickly faded. He knew she craved his touch as much as he craved hers. 

“I have something special planned for you tonight.” He whispered. 

“Oh?” She replied, staring forward. 

He turned her hand over and began drawing circles in the center of her palm with his finger, tickling and teasing her with his touch. 

“Something very special. I know I haven’t been able to spend as much time with you as you know I want to. I intend to remedy that.”

Tazla’s heart pounded in her chest. Every part of her body ached for his touch. His passion for her was the one thing that got her through all of it- the dizzying combination of heaven and hell that their life was together. That and her deep love for her daughters of course. If not for the intoxicating bliss that their passionate love making gave her and the total devotion she had to her children, she would have thrown herself out of an airlock a long time ago. 

She wrapped her hand around his and grasped it fiercely, turning and looking into his dark eyes to let him know she was wholly his. 

“I can’t wait.” She said, doing her best to smile. 

Kylo smiled back as he lifted her hand to kiss it. 

“Me neither.”

Rey’s eyes fluttered awake as sunlight poured in from their bedroom window. She could hear Ben was already up and moving around in the kitchen. It was the first morning she’d woken up in their hut on Ahch To. 

It had all been just a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was some dream... sorry the updates are a little more spaced out this week. What I thought was a bad cold at the beginning of the week has morphed into my daughter and I both having the flu. :( Luckily we caught hers soon enough to get her Tamiflu. Hopefully we'll both be back to feeling better soon.


	47. Family Dynamics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tells Ben about her wild dream over breakfast. Afterwards they call upon family to help sort a few things out.
> 
> I can't help but think of this image by Ilafox when thinking of Rey waking up to Ben cooking breakfast in their new home. Of course they'd have BB-8 instead of Moose, and the kitchen would be smaller. Still, Rey would have a similarly beautiful sight to wake up to each day in their new home. ❤️

Rey rubbed her eyes awake as she walked into the kitchen. Their beautiful new home was an even more welcome sight after the dream she’d just had.

“Hey there early bird.” Ben teased her. She was more than used to being the last one out of bed by now. The larger she got, the harder it was for her to get solid blocks of sleep. Between the kicks of two babies and an ever expanding belly, she was rarely comfortable enough to sleep for very long. She tended to go to bed earlier than Ben and woke up later, trying to get as many hours of sleep out of each night as she could. 

She yawned as she found the ability to speak. “I had another wild pregnancy dream.” The further along she got, the wilder her dreams had been. She wasn’t sure if it was the hormones surging through her or two force sensitive beings growing inside of her, but something about her physical condition was causing her mind to go all kinds of places at night. This one in particular was too wild not to share.

“It was another one of us on the dark side.”

“Oh? What were we up to this time?” Ben asked. 

“We were sitting for our official state portrait as the royal family of the Final Order.”

“That sounds… miserable.” Ben replied.

“It was, but not like how you’d think. We were actually pretty excited about it- doing something together as a family.”

“I guess that makes sense. What ended up being miserable about it?”

“Same as always. Our dark side selves always at each other’s throats, never knowing whether we wanted to murder or fuck each other.”

Ben laughed. “That’s about what I would expect.”

Rey went on. “I always get the feeling the only thing holding it all together is how good the sex is.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Well, that and our love for our children of course. It’s so sad the more I think about it. In all of my dreams about them our dark side selves do love each other, or at least they think they do. They love each other in the best way they know how, which is more than a little chaotic. They just want to be happy together but can’t stop making each other miserable for some reason.”

“I think that pretty much sums up life on the dark side.”

“How so?”

“People on the dark side are just living on pure instinct, never thinking anything through. It ends up making them terrible, miserable human beings. No one wants to be miserable. No one ends up on that path in life because they truly want to be terrible human beings. They end up there because they don’t know any other way of being. If any of the people I’d had around me back then had known there was a better way to live, they’d have taken it- just like I did. The second I realized what a lie it all was I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.” 

Rey thought about what he’d said for a moment. It certainly made a lot of sense. 

Her tone changed as she remembered one particular part of the dream. “I guess the thing I’m most sad about is Kylo promised me he had something special planned for that night- something just the two of us. I never got to see what it was.”

Ben’s eyes shot up to her, a mischievous smirk spreading across his face. “I’m sure I can figure something out to make up for it.”

“I thought you might say that.” She smiled back at him. “What’s on the menu this morning?” Her stomach was already growling with hunger. 

“Chewie’s been collecting eggs from his Porgs for us. I figured I’d try scrambling some to see how they are.” He cracked several small eggs into a frying pan. 

“Sounds like a treat.” Rey smiled. “What are your plans for the day?”

“I figured I’d leave that up to you. What do you need help with?”

“I can think of a couple things, but most importantly I think it’s time we called on your mother and uncle again. I’m sure they’d love to see the hut now that it’s done. Then we can ask Luke about his take on the Chain Worlds Theorem.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Ben replied. 

After breakfast they sat on the couch together hand in hand, eyes closed, and called out to Luke and Leia. In an instant they felt their presence enter the room. 

“Well this is an upgrade from the Falcon!” Leia remarked as she took in the new space. 

“Well done you two.” Luke agreed, looking around. “I wish I’d had an army of friends to help upgrade these huts when I was here.”

Leia cocked her head to the side and stared at him. “You had plenty of friends back then, you idiot. You just ran away without telling us where you were going.”

Luke laughed. “Fair enough.”

Rey held back a laugh. She loved when they squabbled like siblings. It reminded her that even the greatest legends were still human. 

“Speaking of your time on the island, Luke, you should take a look at what Ben did with the bedroom.” Rey said, pointing towards the open doors on her left.

Ben turned to look at her, smiling knowingly at what she was up to. He hadn’t thought about that yet.

“Oh? Let’s see it. ” Luke said as he and Leia went to enter the space. Rey and Ben followed behind them. 

“So this is where the magic happens!” Leia squealed. “With a bed this size this place should be filled with grandkids in no time!” Ben stared at the ceiling. His mother was never one to miss a moment. 

“Wait what’s that about?” Luke asked pointing at the circle on the floor.

“That was Ben’s idea.” Rey said. “Honey, why don’t you tell them about it?” 

Ben didn’t hesitate. “That’s the footprint of the old hut that used to be here, the one Rey stayed in while she was training.” 

“Oh no way…” Luke said staring back at the circle then out the windows. He suddenly realized where they were standing. 

“What now?” Leia asked, “What’s so special about Rey’s old hut?”

Ben explained further. “This is the spot where Rey and I first touched through our bond. It happened one night when we were talking. We reached out to see if we could touch each other through the Force and it worked. Suddenly I was right here with her. Luke sensed what we were up to and wasn’t too pleased. You might have had grandkids even sooner had we not been interrupted.” He smirked at the thought as Rey’s eyes shot up at him. She certainly couldn’t deny it. 

Ben went on. “You should have seen it mom, the whole hut exploded around us when he saw me here with her. It was so intense it severed our bond. Next thing I know I'm back on Snoke's ship wondering what the hell just happened.”

Luke shook his head smiling. “You two certainly kept me on my toes.”

“That sounds about right.” Leia laughed, “I should have known better sending Rey off to find the Force all by herself.”

“What do you mean?” Rey asked

“Really?” Leia said looking at her. “I could tell your mind was all over Ben soon after you got back from Starkiller. The moment you found his old clothes on the Falcon and used them to make your training garb- that should have been the biggest red flag. You put up a good fight, I’ll give you that, but it wasn’t hard to read the writing on the wall.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Here I thought she was wearing Ben’s old stuff just out of resourcefulness.”

Rey stared at the floor unable to deny it. Keeping Ben’s old stuff close by during her training was the last thing she’d been expected to be called out on this morning. She waited for Ben to ask what they were talking about, knowing she’d have to explain how she’d found his last set of padawan robes on the Falcon and altered them to make them her own. Instead she sensed he was holding back laughter. 

“What’s so funny?” She asked looking up at him. 

“I knew those were my old clothes you were wearing when I saw you through our bond. Why did you change out of them when you came to find me?” 

“Well… I couldn’t exactly show up in your old stuff like “Hey Ben, sorry I stole your old clothes, want to ditch Snoke and come back to the light with me?” That would have been a little awkward.”

“I probably would have thought it was cute. You should have tried it.”

“So what- you’d have left with me right away and we’d have lived happily ever after?”

“I guess you’ll never know.” He said smiling.

Rey sighed. “At least we figured it out eventually.” She had another thought, turning back to Luke and Leia. “Speaking of figuring things out, we have a lot of questions for you two.”


	48. Revalations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey ask Luke his thoughts on the Chain Worlds Theorum. The direction their conversation ends up taking surprises all of them.

Rey grabbed their copies of pages concerning the Chain Worlds Theorem and spread them out on the table in the living area. She only grabbed pages from the light texts since those were what Luke had studied. She wasn’t yet ready to bring up the other material they’d been studying along side the Jedi texts. The second they laid out pages written in what the galaxy knew as ancient Sith, she knew she and Ben would have a lot of explaining to do. They weren’t quite yet ready to take that leap yet, not until they had a bit more about the dark side figured out to prove they’d been right to study it. 

“The Chain Worlds Theorum.” Luke said seeing the pages she’d chosen. “You two are getting into the heavier stuff now huh?”

“Heavy indeed.” Rey responded. “So what are your thoughts on this? I can tell from your notes you spent a lot of time on these pages. What can you tell us about it?”

Luke thought for a moment, unsure where to begin. He’d spent many years of his life studying these pages and the theories they contained, but unfortunately not much had come of it. Every time he thought he’d made a breakthrough it would just lead to a dead end. Something was always missing from his search, and he’d never been able to figure out what. 

“Before we dive into it, there are two important things about all of this that you need to know. First, stories that sound eerily familiar to this theory show up in ancient cultures all over the galaxy. The Aki Aki have their legend about the “Portal to the Ancestors”, the Sand People on Tatooine have their own myths surrounding it, Cona, Klatooine, Sriluur- all of them have similar myths. It’s clear from all of these ancient myths that there’s something to it. Somehow all of these ancient cultures have experienced the same thing and have been so affected by it that they’ve included it in their mythology.”

“That’s encouraging.” Rey remarked, “What’s the other thing we need to know?”

“That’s the good news, as for the other part of it- I traveled all over the galaxy studying these very theories for years and wasn’t able to find or prove much other than texts and artifacts I collected pointing to it’s existence. That’s how I knew about Ahch To when I chose to go into hiding. I’d been here many times before searching for a way to enter this supposed other realm of the Force, the World Between Worlds as it’s called. This very island is supposed to be a powerful location for accessing it. Unfortunately, for all the time I spent here I don’t have much to show for it.”

Ben and Rey looked at each other, having the same thought. Rey was the first to speak on it.

“Could you tell us a bit more about what you did when you were here? How you tried to enter it?”

“What didn’t I do is more like it. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to think about on just about every square foot of this island, feeling the Force, studying how it works here, meditating on it and searching for something that felt like a doorway to somewhere else. For all my time here I wasn’t able to find anything that pointed to any one spot as being a portal to another world.”

“What about the cave under the island?” Ben asked. He was having a hard time understanding how his uncle had spent so much time here looking for something unusual in the Force and not noticed the very clear concentration of powerful Force energy right under his nose. 

“Every time I got near that cave I sensed the very thing all Jedi are trained to stay away from- the dark side. I know I don’t have to tell you two that cave is extremely strong with dark force energy. The fact that you’ve both been down there once or twice and lived to tell about it is something I still can’t wrap my head around.”

Rey and Ben did their best to shield their thoughts of all the times they’d actually been down in the cave together. By now it had been more than just once or twice. 

Luke went on. “I know that cave had a lot to show you two about your past lives together. I know it’s what brought you two together when Rey was first here. I’m still not sure what all of that means. I do know the dark side when I see it though and I know it’s not something than any good can come from. What it did to my father, not to mention Ben what it did to you all those years. The dark side is a dangerous, sinister part of the Force that should be avoided at all costs. It-“

“It’s not dangerous.” Rey interrupted him. Luke stared back at her, shocked by her words. She was a little surprised herself she’d just blurted it out so plainly. 

“Rey, how can you say that?” Luke asked, “After everything Ben went through, you saw with your own eyes what it can do to a person.” 

Rey sat silently for a moment, thinking of what to say next. She hadn’t intended to bring their revolutionary ideas on the Force up just yet, but a part of her had been burning inside hearing him drone on dogmatically against the dark side. Everything she and Ben had been learning had showed them the dark side was just as important to understand as the light in order to achieve true balance. It was time someone spoke up on the matter. 

Rey took a deep breath. “The dark side and the light side of the Force, they’re two different kinds of power. Power is only dangerous if you don’t understand it. You wouldn’t hand a lightsaber two a two year old. In the same way, the dark side is only a danger to someone with no knowledge of how it works and what it can do.”

Luke and Leia stared back at her as if she’d just started speaking a different language. 

“That’s a great way of putting it.” Ben backed her up. He’d been shocked she’d brought it up so suddenly the way she did, but now that she’d spoken up he couldn’t help but be proud of her for it. 

“Ben, you agree with this?” Leia asked. After all she’d seen the dark side do to her son, she was astounded to find him defending the idea that it wasn’t dangerous. 

“Yeah… I do.” He responded. He made sure to choose his next words carefully. “The dark side is as much a part of the Force as the light. Only studying one side of the Force is only understanding half of how the Force works. We had no way of knowing this at the time, but not understanding the dark side was why I was so easily manipulated by it. If I’d known a bit more about the dark side before it was used against me, I might have known what was happening to me. If I’d understood what was coming for me, I’d have had a better chance of resisting it.”

Luke and Leia looked at each other, then back at Ben. What he’d just said made so much sense, to the point that it was impossible to argue- and yet it was in complete opposition to everything they’d been taught to believe about the Force. After a minute of coming to terms with Ben’s radical wisdom, Luke spoke up.

“We are what they grow beyond…”

“We’re what now?” Leia asked.

“It was something Yoda told me, just after Rey left her training to go find Ben. I was in a pretty rough place when she left. What felt like a possible second chance to set things right ended just as quickly when she right ran off to find the first star student I’d failed. Yoda reminded me the true purpose of a master- To pass on what we’ve learned, but to also give them the freedom to grow beyond it. How true those words would prove to be.” 

“Did you just call me your star student?” Ben asked.

Luke looked right at him. “That was never a question. You’ve always excelled at every part in the Force you took on, far beyond anything your mother or I ever could have imagined.”

Ben beamed. It was an affirmation he’d waited his whole life to hear. 

Luke went on. “Don’t let it go to your head though. Make no mistake-“ He nodded towards Rey. “She’s right there with you.” 

Rey couldn’t help but smile.

“As it should be.” Ben said smiling back at her. They’d never intended to bring up their thoughts on the dark side this suddenly, but now that they had, it felt like a weight had been taken off their shoulders. Even better, Luke and Leia hadn’t been completely opposed to it, and appeared to be wiling to listen to what they had to say. 

Luke spoke up again. “Before I keep going with what I know, perhaps I should ask you two what you’ve figured out on your own so far. It sounds like you two have had some… interesting revelations since the last time we spoke.” 

Rey looked at Ben, unsure how to respond. They’d been studying and translating the same theories for months now yet even with the new material from the dark side texts, the theories and ideas surrounding the Chain Worlds Theorum felt about as confusing as the first day they’d opened the texts. 

She figured she might as well be honest. “I wouldn’t say we’ve figured out a whole lot. More like we’ve come up with a lot of our own theories on what things could mean.”

Luke laughed. “That’s about as definitive as it gets from my experience with ancient texts.” 

Rey went on. “We’re pretty certain the World Between Worlds as you referred to it is what Ben passed through when he left Exegol and came to find me on Tatooine. For some reason, instead of dying like most people would have after draining their life force, he was able to navigate through that part of the Force to get back to me. When he did that, our bond strengthened and our powers multiplied. Something about overpowering life and death in that way made us even stronger Force users than we were before.”

“Any idea why that might be?” Luke asked.

“Palpatine did say a Dyad was the power of life and death.” Ben responded. “Something about us unlocking that power strengthened us a dyad. What the World Between Worlds did to make that happen, we’re still not sure.”

“Interesting…” Luke thought on it. “The power of life and death… Rey when you came to the island you said you sensed the strength of life and death here when you were meditating on the Force.”

“That’s right.” Rey replied. She’d forgotten about that part of her first lesson, but it had been something she’d noticed.

“Right after you said that, the ground you were sitting on cracked open, do you remember that?”

“The part where you got upset that I went to the dark- yes I definitely remember that.” She couldn’t help herself. 

“Right… something about those powers you sensed were calling to you, right through the island, so powerfully it split ancient rock in two. That has to mean something.”

Rey had never thought about it like that before. “I guess you’re right.”

Luke went on. “And against everything I told you to do, you still went down into that cave to see what it had to show you.”

“That I did.” She replied. 

Luke’s eyes went wide. They could all sense he’d just figured out something big. “Then right after you did that, you and Ben came together in your hut, able to touch each other through your bond, against all the laws of time and space…”

“We did…” Rey replied. 

“The cave…” Luke was piecing it together “It’s the portal I’d been searching for. Rey, when you entered it, it gave you two the power to reach out to each other and bring yourselves together physically even thought your bodies were separated across thousands of star systems.”

Rey was stunned. “That… that very well could be what happened.”

“…and then there’s Exegol.” Luke went on. “It’s supposed to contain a vergence in the Force as well.”

“A what?” Ben asked.

“A vergence.” Luke explained, “It’s a concentration of Force energy that grants access to the World Between Worlds. The portal I’m talking about on the Island, what the cave appears to be, that’s a vergence. Exegol is supposed to have one as well.”

Rey knew what Luke was thinking and said it out loud. “So the vergence here on the island is down in that cave, and that brought us together when we were separated across space. The one on Exegol- that brought Ben back to me when we were separated by life and death?”

“Yes… of course…” Luke answered, almost afraid to admit out loud what he believed to be true. “If that’s the case, that’s got to have something to do with how Palpatine was able to return as well.”

Ben and Rey looked at each other nervously. They certainly hadn’t expected the conversation to take that turn. They were too afraid to say their next words to eachother out loud. 

_Ben... if he came back once through the vergence on Exegol... ___

_He can do it again. Sounds like our problems just got a lot bigger. ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, shit. 
> 
> I guess Rey’s instinct to figure out all this stuff sooner than later was a good one!


	49. Bad News and Good News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Skywalkers and the Solos discuss everything that a return from their worst enemy could mean. Ben and Rey share their news with their friends, who have some special news of their own to share.

As the four of them came to the same horrible realization, Leia’s first thoughts went to the babies.

“Rey, have you felt anything… unusual during your pregnancy?”

Rey thought about it for a moment, unsure what she was asking. “How so? Everything about being pregnant feels unusual.”

“That part I remember well.” Leia smiled. “I mean, have you felt anything that worried you in the Force specifically?”

“In the Force?”

“Yes, the Force surrounding the babies.”

“I guess… the Force is always strong with them. There’s what I feel when they’re physically moving around and then there’s what I feel from their Force energy. I feel their energies pulsing and pushing through me all the time. Why do you ask?”

Leia looked at her son. She’d never shared this part of his early life with him for many reasons. She knew she had no choice but to share the things she’d wished someone had been there to warn her about. 

“When I was pregnant with Ben, I could feel his Force energy just like you described it. It was so strong, so intense, so beautiful. Some days it would hit me out of nowhere and I’d be in tears. A couple of times I felt something else that interrupted it. A darkness, like a bolt of dark energy plunging through me and into him. It would drive him nuts. I could feel him kicking around trying to fight it off. I would just hold my belly not knowing what to do, how to help him or make it stop. I had no idea what it was at the time but later, after everything happened, it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

Ben and Rey stared back at her stunned. Ben could feel a maternal rage building inside Rey as she realized what Leia was telling her. 

“He came after Ben before he was even born?!” Rey was livid.

“Yes.” Leia replied. “I know I told you I had visions of the dark side coming for him when I was pregnant, but it wasn’t just that. I’d felt it too, physically. Palpatine targeted him as soon as he sensed his life force coming into being. That’s why I stopped training. Part of me was afraid that as I got stronger in the Force, whatever it was would come for him more and more. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Please, tell me you haven’t felt anything like that so far?”

“No, I haven’t…” Rey replied, rubbing her bump protectively. 

“Thank the gods for that.” Leia said. 

Rey’s anger built higher and higher the more she thought about it. Her grandfather coming for an innocent child in utero… it was more than she could stand to think about. 

Her next words shocked the group. “We’ll go to Exegol. We’ll take all the ships we have. We’ll destroy the entire planet if we have to, till there’s nothing left. There’s no way I’m letting that monster come back and do that to another innocent child ever again.”

Luke spoke up right away. “I’m not sure that would be the best idea. Above all, the Force seeks balance. If we blow up one of the strongest dark side vergences in existence there’s no telling what it might create in it’s place.”

“Very true.” Leia agreed. “You know I have no love for Exegol but there are indeed many things that can’t be solved by blowing things up. Blowing up entire planets never leads to anything good.”

Ben knew enough of his family’s history to know just how much his mother meant what she said. He took his wife’s hand to reassure her. “We’ll figure this out sweetheart. Whatever we have to do to make sure he never comes back, we’ll do it. We have everything we need…” Suddenly a thought came over him. “If Palpatine can figure out how to use the World Between Worlds, to navigate it and travel through it at will, so can we.”

Rey looked up at him. “You really think we could do that?”

“He’s the one that said it. A dyad is the power of life and death. If anyone can learn to control the part of the Force that governs life and death, it would be us.”

Rey stared at the floor for a moment, thinking on what all he’d just said. “Wow…” She said to herself as several of the mysteries of her life suddenly seemed to fall into place. She looked back up at her husband. “There’s a reason he wanted us on his side so badly. Not just for our power, but for what our power is capable of doing. We could be the key to ending whatever it is he’s been doing in the Force all this time.” 

Luke watched in awe as his star students came to terms with all that they could be capable of. The two of them had fought the system and broken the supposed rules of the Force with everything they had, always choosing to go their own way when they had the choice. After all that had happened, coming together and forging their own path was turning out to be just what the galaxy might need.

*****

“So run this by me again.” Poe said, trying to make sense of yet another fantastical conversation about the Force. This was the first time they’d had one of these conversations in Ben and Rey’s new home. At least this time they finally had a comfortable setting to discuss the impossibilities the Force kept throwing at them. “You’re telling me there’s this other universe outside of our own and that might be how Palpatine came back? Like he’s just waiting out there to do it again?”

“He might be, we’re not sure about that yet.” Rey replied. “Luckily we haven’t had any signs he’s doing so, not like what Leia described the first time.”

“The first time?” Finn asked. “Did Leia know he was coming back before this last war?”

“No, not exactly.” Ben realized the timeline of past events made things more than a little tricky to describe. “No one knew he was coming back, but after it happened they looked back and saw there were some red flags early on about what he was up to.”

“Like what?” Rose asked. 

Ben went on. “For one thing, my mother used to feel him coming after me through the Force when she was pregnant with me. She had no idea what was happening at the time, but she’d felt a dark power take hold of me inside of her and felt me trying to fight it off. Looking back she realized those were his first attempts to manipulate me away from my family.”

His friends stared back at him, shocked by what he’d just revealed. 

“Rey, you haven’t felt anything like that have you?” Rose asked, terrified by the possibility. 

“Thankfully no.” Rey answered. “This time at least we’re a step ahead of him because we know what he’s capable of, and we know the warning signs. We’re pretty sure he’s used this World Between Worlds in the Force to come back, and we’re pretty sure that’s also how Ben was able to come back after giving his life up for me on Exegol.”

“Wow, no shit?” Poe replied. “Ben, you beat Palpatine at his own game without even knowing what you were doing?”

Ben smiled. “I guess you could say that.”

“Well that’s certainly encouraging.” Poe said with a sigh of relief. “At least we know you two are on his level if not ahead of him.”

“That’s the really promising part.” Ben went on. “Palpatine even said himself a dyad is the power of life and death. His attempts to seduce us both to the dark side were because he knew we were the one thing in the Force that could stop him from achieving total control over the galaxy. If he spent 30 years doing everything he could to seduce us both to the dark side, we must represent a pretty big threat. We just have to figure out what that threat is so we know how to stop him this time.”

Poe was already putting a plan together in his mind. “It’s like we’ve said from the beginning of all this, whatever you two need to figure this out, we’ll get it for you. Ships to travel wherever you need to go, scholars, translators, whatever. Rey, I know you especially will be more than a little busy once the babies get here, but I don’t want you to worry about a thing. We’ll get you all the nurse droids you need. Operation “figure out how Ben and Rey stop Palpatine from doing whatever it is he does” is the galaxy’s number one mission right now.”

Rey sighed. She hadn’t even thought about how much their lives were about to be turned upside down in the very near future. Starting a family in the middle of figuring out how to stop the Emporer from returning wasn’t ideal, but somehow they would get through it. Thankfully time was on their side. It had taken her grandfather 30 years to return the first time. There was no way he’d be coming back anytime soon, and if he tried to they’d already know to be looking for him. 

“Now that I think about it…” Rey spoke up, “Did the resistance leave any kind of surveillance on Exegol? Just to keep an eye on what’s going on out there? It might have taken him 30 years the first time but if there’s any sign he’s up to something we’ll want to know about it.”

“That was one of the first things we did once we re-established the republic.” Finn reassured her. “The last thing any of us wanted was someone trying to salvage any part of that fleet. We’ve had drones and droids surveying the planet for months now. If anything pipes up out there, we’ll know about it.” 

“That’s a relief.” Rey replied. 

“You know what…” Poe looked right at Ben, already thinking several steps ahead. “Once you two do figure this out, Ben- the galaxy won’t just welcome you back with open arms. You two will be the greatest legends the galaxy’s ever seen. They won’t just forgive you for your time on the dark side, they’ll forget it ever happened. You two will be like gods to people.”

“I don’t want anyone to forget it happened.” Ben replied. His friends looked back at him, confused. “What happened to me should be a warning for future generations about what happens when the Force is unbalanced. No one should ever forget just how wrong it can go. They need to know how far it pushed me, every horrible thing I did, so they know what it’s capable of. Once they know that they’ll understand why studying all aspects of the Force is so important, so that never happens to anyone else ever again.” 

Rey took his hand to let him know she was there for him in that moment. After everything he’d been through, sometimes she still couldn’t believe just how far he’d come. 

“I guess that’s a good point.” Poe agreed. “None of us want our kids having to worry about another Darth Vader or Kylo Ren running around… no offense man.”

“Trust me none taken.” Ben replied.

“Who’s kids would that be?” Zorii spoke up, always one to know how to lighten a moment. 

Poe smiled. “Well, you know, theoretically… if any of us besides these two ever decide to procreate.”

“Actually…” Rose spoke up. “That might not be such a theoretical possibility.”

The group stared back at her. She grabbed Finn’s hand as he beamed with excitement next to her. 

“We were going to wait to bring it up at dinner but… ah what the heck I can’t wait that long. The Solo Twins are going to have a playmate!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These kids certainly are being born into an interesting time in Galactic history. Congrats Finn and Rose!


	50. What's In A Name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group celebrates with Finn and Rose after hearing their happy news. Rose reminds Rey it's time she and Ben pick names for their own bundles of joy, and Rey finds herself needing her friend's help.

The group erupted with excitement over the happy news. 

“Graaaahhhhh!” Chewy roared with congratulations, picking the couple up off the ground in a huge hug. 

Rey squealed as she ran over to hug her friend. “Rose!!! That’s fantastic!!!” The two women embraced, overjoyed at the thought of their children growing up together. 

“Congrats man!” Poe said slapping Finn on the back as he hugged him. “A little Tico running around! I can’t wait!”

“I guess we’ll have to add Force sensitive child care to the training regimen huh?” Ben said, smiling and hugging Finn as well.

“You know I hadn’t even thought about that yet.” Finn replied. “What happens if all three of them have the Force together?”

“I guess we’ll figure that out when the day comes.” Rey said, thrilled with the thought. 

Zorii joined in fussing over Rose and Fin and congratulating them, but Rey sensed a conflict inside of her at the news. Something about the idea of children was a hard one for her. Rey made a mental note to check in with her friend later to make sure everything was ok. 

*****

That night the group of friends met at Rose and Finn’s hut to celebrate. Rey made sure to sit next to her friend so they could gush about all the exciting news together. Rey had sensed Rose’s pregnancy for a few weeks, but as a good friend she had pretended like she had no idea. One of the down sides of being Force sensitive was having such big news spoiled for you before a mother-to-be had the chance to announce it. 

“So, how long have you known? How did you first figure it out?” Rey fused over her friend with all the excitement she could muster. She remembered how excited she’d been her first few weeks and months of pregnancy and how a small part of her had wished she’d had more friends around to share her excitement with. 

“You know, Finn actually sensed it first before I saw any signs.”

“Really?” 

“Yes! It was nuts. If I do the math I was probably…. Three weeks along? All of a sudden he’s putting his hand on my belly every chance he can get. We’d been talking about having children for a little while, and at first I thought he was just daydreaming. But the more he did it I was like ok something has to be up. One day I asked him what he was doing and he just blurted out “You’re pregnant! I can feel it.” Next thing I know I’m starting to see the signs and it turns out he was right!”

“That’s amazing! Finn is going to be such a great father. I love seeing how excited he is.”

“Me too. I can’t remember the last time he was this excited about anything.” Suddenly Rose had another thought. “How far along were you before you could sense you were carrying girls?”

“Hmmmm if I think about it… about a month and a half? I’d had this sort of hunch before, then one morning I just knew it. How far along are you now?”

“Right about there. I haven’t had any hunches either way but Finn seems to think it’s a boy.”

“He’s probably right then.” Rey smiled. She knew her friend had all the skills he needed to pick up on such things. 

Rose had another thought. “Speaking of the girls have you and Ben thought of names yet? They’ll be here before we know it and I want to know what we should start calling them.”

“If I’m honest I haven’t even known where to start with that one. How does one pick names that their children will carry with them their entire life?”

“Well, people pick names for all kinds of reasons. Usually it’s something meaningful to the parents. Sometimes it’s a name from a favorite story, a hero one or both of the parents heard about growing up. Sometimes it’s a family name that’s passed down through generations. Sometimes names honor a family friend who’s been lost. Ben was named after one of Luke and Leia’s mentors, wasn’t he?”

“That’s right, the Jedi master who first trained Luke before Yoda.”

“So that’s another way to pick a name, someone who had a big impact on the parents. Then there’s also favorite flowers, planets, names from mythology-“

“I’m definitely not naming a child Grimtaash.”

Rose laughed. “Fair enough. Not mythology then.” She thought about it for a second. “Your children’s names should be something that makes your heart happy when you say it. Whether it’s a person you cared a lot about and have happy memories of, or something symbolic that means a lot to you. Of course you’ll also want it to ring nicely with Solo since that’s their last name.”

“Good point, I hadn’t thought about that either.”

“Luckily for us Solo and Tico are easy names to follow anything. Our kids can have names as long or short as we want. Poe and Zorii will have to keep their kids names short whenever they decide to start a family. Dameron is a bit more of a mouthful.”

“Have either of them mentioned wanting to start a family together?”

“I think it’s still a little early for that. Even though they’ve known each other forever they’ve only been official a few months. It’s pretty clear they’re made for each other though. I’m sure they’ll get there eventually.” Rose smiled, dreaming of more playmates for her own children.

Rey chose not to mention the conflict she’d sensed from Zorii earlier. She didn’t want anything to cloud Rose’s excitement over sharing her happy news, and knew Zorii wouldn’t have wanted that either. Whatever it was Zorii was struggling with, it was clear she was keeping it deeply hidden. Her outward excitement for Finn and Rose was every bit as enthusiastic as the rest of the friends. 

“Dinner’s ready!” Fin announced from the kitchen.

“Great, I’m starving.” Rose remarked.

“Better get used to it.” Rey said smiling at her friend. “You’ll be amazed how much you can think about food when you’re eating for more than one person.”

*****

Exhausted after a long day, Rey and Ben got back to their hut soon after dinner. Rey collapsed on the couch. She shuffled through and looked over the pages of texts they’d had out earlier, expecting Ben to join her. After about ten minutes of reading alone she looked around, wondering where he’d gone. She found him laying in their bed, staring wide eyed at the ceiling. 

He never went to bed this early. Rey could sense his mind was a million places. She crawled into bed and snugggled into him. 

“What is it sweetheart? Where all is your mind taking you tonight?”

“Where isn’t it taking me is more like it.”

“Anything you want to talk about?”

“Absolutely.” Rey could already tell whatever it was, it was a hard subject to bring up. She gave him all the time he needed to find the words. Anything this hard for Ben to talk about was always related to one thing. 

“This World Between Worlds stuff, it’s got me thinking about all the possibilities of the Force.”

“It certainly opens up a whole universe of possibilities.”

“Right, we already know we can go from this world to the World Between Worlds. I’ve done it, and there’s legends all over the galaxy about people who’ve done it. Eventually we’re going to figure out how we can do it and control it ourselves, so we can stop Palpatine from coming back. I got to thinking about how Luke and my Mom can come see us from the other side whenever we call on them. What if there’s even more to it than any of us realize... What if…” he could barely get the words out.

“Yes sweetheart?”

His voice cracked slightly as he continued. “What if… if it could work both ways? If Force sensitive people who’ve died can project themselves back into the world of the living- What if living Force sensitive people could project themselves into the Force to visit those who’ve died? A dyad is the power of life and death- what if we could travel through the Force, just like the souls of the dead?” 

There it was, the possibility Rey had dreamed about for Ben but never dared talk about. The implications were too painful without it being a possibility. 

“You’re wondering if you could go see your father on the other side?”

“Of course I am.” Tears filled his eyes at the admission. 

“Oh honey…” Rey wrapped her arms around him as her own eyes filled with tears. 

Ben wiped his eyes. “I know we’ve got more than enough on our plate with figuring out how to stop Palpatine from coming back and how to balance the Force once and for all. That’s what we’re meant to be doing. That’s our destiny in the Force. But someday, once we’ve done all that, I hope we can figure out if there’s a way to take it further and do just that.”

“Of course sweetheart, if there’s a way to do it, you and I will figure it out together. Once we make sure the galaxy is safe, we’ll do everything we can to figure out if you can go see your father again.”

“Do you remember what you asked me through our bond, the second time we saw each other?”

Rey was afraid to answer. “When… when I asked why you did it?”

“No, you already know the answer to that. When you asked if I hated him.”

“Honey I know you didn’t hate him-“

“That’s just it though, I know you know that, but sometimes I feel like you’re the only person who does. The whole galaxy thinks I hated him. Every time someone flys past where Starkiller used to be they see the Solo singularity on the map and remember how Kylo Ren murdered his father.”

“Well, thanks to Poe people are learning the truth about what happened. People are learning what all the dark side did to you, all the terrible things it put you through. In time people will learn the truth about all of it.”

“The truth, the real truth is the hardest part. He was my hero when I was a kid. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.”

“Really?” Rey was stunned to hear him talk about Han like this. It was the first time he’d really opened up about his relationship with his father to her. 

“Of course. Every kid thinks their dad is a hero, and my dad really was a hero. He was the greatest pilot in the galaxy, the man who helped take down two death stars, the man did the kessel run in 12 parsecs-“

“I thought it was 14?”

“Who told you that?”

“I don’t know I just always heard 14.”

“It was definitely 12. Anyways he did all of that, and he was my dad, my hero. Snoke saw that and knew to get me on the dark side he’d have to drive me away from him. I didn’t understand it at the time but that’s just what he did. He drove me away from everyone I loved, but especially my dad. That’s why his death was the first test he put me through. If I killed him Snoke knew he had me. When you asked me why I hated him and I said I didn’t hate him- that was the truth. I’ve never lied to you about anything, but especially that. I never could have hated him, I hated myself for what I’d become but I could never hate him. Rey… I miss him so much.” He stopped as he chocked back tears 

Rey held him as they cried together, grieving the man that had shaped Ben’s life so much, a man Rey had barely known but had admired so much in the short time she’d known him. 

After a time Ben spoke up again. “I try not to focus on it, I know there’s nothing we can do about it right now, but I miss him so much, I feel like it’s tearing me apart sometimes. I’ve done my best to make peace with it, but it’s not easy. When we started talking about the World between Worlds today, it brought all of that back up. The hope that I could see him again… it’s impossible not to think about.”

“We will see him again someday Ben, I believe that. If you can conquer death and run across the galaxy to come be with me again a few hours later, there’s no reason we can’t figure this out together. Once we figure all this out- that will be the first thing we take on together.”

“Thank you sweetheart.” He said, kissing her on her forehead. 

“Of course.” She replied, cuddling into him. She felt his breathing slow as he settled in to fall asleep. Another thought came across her mind as a round of kicks started up in her belly.

“There was something else I wanted to talk to you about before we fall asleep.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Names for the girls. We haven’t even started talking about names yet and they’ll be here before we know it.”

“You’re right. Anything you have in mind?”

“I wasn’t sure where to begin, but I talked to Rose about it some today. I think I have some ideas.”

“Let’s hear them.”

“Rose said a lot of time people pick names of family friends, or people they’ve lost they’d like to remember. The only family I ever had growing up was my friend Ilaria. She was one of the other scavenger children that Plutt owned.”

“Oh? You never told me about her.”

“That part of my life is something I try not to think about, but she was one of the few bright spots. We used to go out together a lot when we were small and could fit into the tiniest spots on the ships. We’d help each other carry things back when we were done.”

“What happened to her?”

“When we got older we’d go out scavenging alone. It was easier to cover more ground that way. One day when we were about 16 she didn’t come back to Nima at the end of the day. I went looking for her that night and found her. She’d been climbing up a reactor tower and slipped. No one could have survived that fall.”

“Oh honey… I’m so sorry.”

“It was a harsh reality of life as a scavenger, one we all lived with every day. Climbing around old wrecked star destroyers isn’t easy nor is it safe. People often didn’t come back.”

Ben didn’t like to think of the hard life she’d lived before they’d found each other, and even worse how many times she may have come close to being lost to him forever. He thanked all the gods and the Force that she’d made it through that part of her life safely. 

“So, Ilaria Solo, I like that. That’s a beautiful name for a girl. What about the other one?”

“Well I thought of one but… I wanted to make sure you were ok with it first.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“What do you think about… Hana?”

Ben stated at her speechless, unsure what to say.

“If not of course I totally understa-“

“No… it’s perfect.” Ben replied, barely able to hold back the tears that flooded back to him. 

“Really?”

“Yes, I love it. I can’t think of anything else I’d want to name one of our daughters.”

Rey smiled up at him, her voice barely a whisper with everything she was feeling in that moment. “Do you want to teach little Hana and Ilaria Solo to pilot the Falcon and swing light sabers together?”

“You know I do. I absolutely do.” He put his hand on her belly and felt his daughters kick excitedly, sensing his presence. His face was full of emotion as he broke out into the biggest smile. He sighed, thinking of all the things he couldn’t wait to teach his daughters. “I think it’s safe to say they’re going to be very good at both of those things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering where the name Ilaria came from, that's my own daughter's name. My husband and I have been Reylo cosplayers since 2015 and she joined the cosplay as our Reylo baby in 2019. She sleeps next to me every day as I write this story so I figured she deserved a spot in it. ❤️


	51. Coruscant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben's studies trigger a vision of the past, and a revelation about a family member neither of them expected.

Rey and Ben sat on their couch the next morning going over the texts they’d studied with Luke the day before. The word vergence had been one that had tripped them up in their translations until Luke had explained it better. Now that they understood it’s meaning there were several passages that made much more sense. 

Rey looked out their windows and over the ocean as she considered multiple possible meanings for a certain passage they were working on. Lines of waves in the water began to come together as if organizing into something predictable. Suddenly the waves were ships passing in orderly traffic patterns in the space below them. The vast ocean of Ahch To emptied as a cityscape stretched out to the horizon.

The sight made Rey gasp which caught Ben’s attention. He looked up to see the same change in the horizon that she was seeing. He grabbed her hand as the walls of their round hut pushed out and became a much larger space. Chairs with others seated in them appeared around the room as the floor became smooth. A gold circle stretched out in the center of the floor as intricate red designs appeared on it. The other’s in the room wore tan and brown robes, robes which both of them recognized as Jedi robes. Their thoughts completed each other as they realized where they were. 

“Ben, this is…“

“The Jedi council, from the days of the republic…”

“…before the empire rose and wiped all of them out…”

Ben looked to their right, smiling at who he recognized among the masters. “Not quite all of them. That’s Master Yoda two seats down. He trained my Uncle Luke- oh gods…”

“What? What is it?”

Ben was looking at the two men standing in the center of the room.

“That’s Ben Kenobi. That’s the man I was named after.”

“How do you know that?”

“Honestly I don’t know how I know that, but I’m sure that’s Master Ben Kenobi, or who became Master Ben Kenobi. He looks like a padawan right now. He’s still got his braid.”

Rey looked at the two men. “The older one, that’s his master Qui-Gon Jin.”

Ben stared at her, shocked. “Now how do you know that?”

“I couldn’t tell you. Somehow we both know who these people are...“

“Maybe we’re remembering them, from our most recent life together. My grandparents would have known them. Maybe we’re able to remember who they are from when we were our former selves.”

“That has to have something to do with it.”

They watched and listened to the discussion the council members were having with the two Jedi knights. 

“He was trained in the Jedi arts.” Qui-gon explained to the council. “My only conclusion would be that it was a Sith.”

“The Sith have been excinct for a Milennia.” One master remarked.

The master sitting to their right spoke up. “I do not believe the Sith would have returned without us knowing.”

“Ah, hard to see the dark side is.” Yoda replied. 

The master next to them went on. “We will use all of our resources to unravel this mystery. We will discover the identity of your attacker. May the Force be with you.”

“Do you think it was my grandfather?” Rey whispered to Ben as his namesake went to leave the room.

“Wait, let’s keep listening. I’m sure we can figure that out.”

“Master Qui-Gon” Yoda spoke up, seeing the master wasn’t ready to leave. “More to say have you?”

Qui-Gon went on. “With your permission my master, I’ve encountered a vergence in the Force.” 

“A vergence… you say…” 

The word made Rey grab Ben’s hand again. They looked at each other, realizing how important this discussion could be.

“Located around a… person?” The master next to them asked in disbelief. 

“A boy.” Qui-Gon answered. “With a cell count of the highest concentration of midichlorians I’ve ever seen. It is possible he was conceived by the midichlorians.”

Several masters looked at each other, concerned. 

Again the master next to them spoke up. “You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force? You believe it’s this… boy?”

Qui-Gon replied “I don’t presume to-“

“But you do.” Yoda interrupted him. “Revealed your opinion is.”

“I request the boy be tested master.” 

“Oh, trained as a Jedi, you request for him hmmm?”

“Finding him was the will of the Force. I have no doubt of that.”

The master next to them sighed. “Bring him before us.”

Ben and Rey felt time begin to pass quickly soon after Qui-Gon and Ben Kenobi left the room. Suddenly a young boy with blonde hair stood in the middle of the room. His skills were being tested by the masters. 

Rey recognized his presence from her vision on Naboo.

“Ben that’s-“

“My grandfather... Anakin Skywalker.” Ben had sensed it too. 

“Or you in a past life depending on how we look at it.” 

“Right.”

“But the masters said they thought he was a vergence? How can a person be a vergence?”

“I don’t know... It must have something to do with his high midichlorian count.”

They watched as young Anakin Skywalker aced all the tests laid before him.

“Little Anakin’s pretty sharp.” Ben said smiling. 

“Very sharp.” Rey agreed.

Ben suddenly had a thought. He stood up and started walking toward the middle of the room.

“What are you doing?” Rey asked.

“Don’t worry, it’s clear they can’t see us. I just had a thought… if he’s a vergence like they said…” Ben reached out to touch the boy’s shoulder.

“No, Ben stop!” Rey jumped up to stop him “Have you lost your mi-“ He touched Anakin’s shoulder before she could get to him. Suddenly the room around them disappeared and the stars of open space appeared all around them. Pathways reached out in every direction. The pathways were dotted with archways surrounded by a variety of symbols.

“...what did you do?” Rey asked looking around.

Ben looked down at the boy who’s shoulder he still had a hand on. He was going through the tests, but the council and room around them had disappeared. Slowly Anakin began to disappear as well. 

“It’s like they said, he’s a vergence in the Force. This is the World Between Worlds. This is what I ran through to get to you.”

“It looks like it goes on forever…” Rey looked around them at paths that went as far as their eyes could see. “It feels like we’re nowhere and everywhere all at once.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“But wait, how do we get back home?”

“This is all just a vision. I’m sure as soon as the vision ends we’ll be back in our living room.”

Sure enough after a minute or so of taking in the starry expanse that stretched in all directions, the stars faded to grey and the rocks of their domed hut ceiling appeared above them. They were comfortably back on their couch, just as they’d been before.

Rey turned to look at Ben. “How do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Just getting up in the middle of visions, knowing where to run off to and where they’ll take you?”

“When I have a feeling about something I just follow it.”

Rey felt like an idiot at the irony. “Wow, that literally is how the Force works isn’t it… a feeling that you know you have to follow.”

“Exactly” Ben said smiling. “If you have a feeling that you want to do something in the middle of a vision, there’s probably a reason you feel like doing it.”

“Wise words.” Rey smiled at her husband. “I wish I had your free spirit.”

“One of us has to keep us focused.”

Rey laughed. “Very true. We wouldn’t be half way through these texts if not for my badgering you to keep retranslating all the dark ones.”

“Badgering’s not the right word. More like- encouraging.”

“Yeah I like that word better.” She figured she’d better get them back on topic. “So Anakin was a Vergence, that’s some pretty big news.”

“Yeah… I had no idea a person could be a-” Suddenly a thought hit him. He reached his hand out and summoned the legacy saber from their wardrobe in the other room.

“What’s that for?” Rey asked.

“This… This is what took us to our first shared fantasy together, and then Naboo right after that. Somehow the power of his vergence was transferred to this saber.”

“Oh, no way…” A memory came flooding back to her with the realization. “Right before we first met on Takodana this lightsaber showed me a series of visions.”

“How come you never told me about that?”

Rey thought about it for a second. “Honestly, so many things have happened to me through the Force I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention a lot of them.”

“Hmmm, right.” Ben sighed. He knew exactly what she meant, having experienced more fantastic events than his mind could remember, let alone find time to recount. 

“Anyways, these visions I saw on Takodana- it was like the Force was throwing everything it had at me. So much so it terrified me. When I came out of it there was Maz talking about-“

“Maz Kanata?”

“Yeah why? Do you know her?”

“Of course I know her. She’s an old family friend.” Ben put two and two together. “So that’s how you got this lightsaber…”

“What are you talking about?”

“You found it in a trunk at her place didn’t you?”

“Yes… how did you know that?” 

“Because I put it there.”

“Really?”

“Was my calligraphy set and all that still in there?”

“I don’t remember… What do you mean you put that trunk down there?”

“You know what my childhood was like. I used to always dream about running away from home. One summer before going back to training with Luke, I packed a box of stuff I might need if I was ever on the run and asked Maz if I could hide it there. Of course she said “Whatever you need sweetheart. You can come visit aunt Maz here any time.””

“So you trained with this saber when you were younger, then just hid it away?”

“I never actually trained with it. I didn’t want Luke or my parents to know I had it so I never got it out. Lando gave it to me on my 8th birthday after one of his maintenance crews found it in a ventilation shaft on Cloud City.” Ben smiled remembering how his godfather had given the saber to him. “He said to me, “Ben don’t tell your parents or your uncle about this. They’d never forgive me for giving this to a kid, but I think you’re ready for it more than any of them will ever be.” He was the coolest godfather a kid could ask for.”

Rey made a mental note not to make Lando the godfather of any of their children. She didn’t want the girls ending up with any light sabers they weren’t supposed to have. 

“So Lando gave you this as a kid and your family never knew about it?”

“Yes.”

“Then you hid it away in a box of stuff at Maz’s place?”

“Several years later, yeah.”

Suddenly Rey’s first experience in the Force made a whole lot more sense. 

“That saber and that box of your things, it called out to me because it belonged to you.”

Ben remembered all the things he’d packed in that box. “I had a lot on interesting stuff in that box. There may have been more than just the saber calling to you.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“It was stuff from studying with Luke. Ancient writing was my favorite subject of study. There were copies of several scrolls I’d practice with, scrolls about traveling through hyperspace, theories on ways to use the Force to travel across the galaxy. Basically what we’re studying now. That's why I hid it in my running away from home box, in case I ever needed to try to get somewhere quickly. I wonder if any of it is still down there…”

“There's only one way to find out.” Rey said. “Want to go back and relive the moment we first met?”

“That’s... not a bad idea.” Ben replied, doing his best to hide his mixed feelings about that point in history. He wasn't sure he'd ever be ready to relive the day he saw Maz's home destroyed by his own troops. However, if they could save something important from the wreckage that could help them defeat the greatest evil in the galaxy, he might just be able to get through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought Qui Gon said "A disturbance in the Force" in that scene until I watched the prequels again right after seeing TROS. I nearly fell out of my seat when I heard the word vergence. I had to go back and watch it again to make sure I heard it correctly, and sure enough Anakin is a vergence. That explains a lot about his lightsaber, speaking of which...
> 
> "That lightsaber, it belongs to me." -Kylo in TFA. 
> 
> How would Kylo know what the Skywalker legacy saber looks like if Luke lost it before he was born and it didn't show back up until Rey found it at Maz's place? The canvas wrap of Ben's old calligraphy set sitting under the saber inside the box she found it in told us all we need to know. Ben's close relationship with his godfather who ran the city where it was lost is the rest of the answer to that mystery. The specifics of how it ended up at Maz's place I had to get a little creative with, but Maz's reluctance to tell Han how it got there gave me the idea that she may have had a closer relationship with Ben than we realize. Maz and Ben having a close relationship makes sense with how close she is to all of the Solo family. Make sure to keep an eye on that lightsaber scene next time you watch TFA. ;)


	52. Takodana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey use the vergence in the legacy saber to head to Takodana to see if they can find Ben's old trunk. The experience ends up being more than either of them bargained for.

Ben held out the saber for both of them to hold together. Rey held onto it with him as they closed their eyes and centered their minds, remembering the moment they found each other in the woods on Takodana. 

The stillness of their hut faded and they could hear the sounds of a forest burst into life around them. As they opened their eyes together they were sitting up on a ledge in the woods near where they met. The sound of Rey’s blaster pierced the calm that hung over the forest. The erratic sounds of Kylo’s red saber followed as he pursued her. Their former selves passed in a crevasse below them and out into an opening to their left, Rey shooting at Kylo as he blocked every blast. Kylo reached up and froze Rey’s former self in the Force. 

“Such a gentleman.” Rey teased.

“You didn’t give me much of a choice.” Ben responded. 

“Did you just look me up and down?” Rey asked as Kylo walked around his prisoner. 

“Guilty.” Ben replied. “I couldn’t help it. You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I’m not sure why I didn’t just take you and run off into the woods with you.”

“I was already headed that way. I probably wouldn’t have minded it.”

Ben looked at her, not buying it.

“I mean, you would have had to lose the mask to have any chance of that, but then… who knows?” She smiled. 

“Right.” Ben said looking back at their former selves as Kylo lifted his saber a few inches from Rey’s face.

“That didn’t help your case.” Rey smirked.

“I imagine it didn’t.” Ben replied. 

They watched together as Kylo did his best to get information out of her. Rey could sense Kylo was a ball of conflicting emotion. Nervousness and burning attraction to his prisoner threatened to override the duty that drove him to interrogate her. The more nervous he got, the more aggressive he got in his interrogation. It was all he could do to keep himself focused and not succumb to the intense desire to take this woman and leave everything he’d dedicated his life to behind.

“You’re lucky I couldn’t sense as much as I can now. If I could have I’d have seen right through you.”

“I wish you had. It wouldn’t have taken much to convince me to leave it all and run away with you.”

It was Rey’s turn to look at him, not buying it. It was clear how hard his former self had been fighting to maintain control. 

“Well, it might have taken… a couple of things. But trust me you had all the tools you needed to make me forget the dark side ever existed.”

Rey sighed. “How young and naïve we were.” 

“This was barely two years ago.”

“Still, it feels like we were a lot younger doesn’t it?”

Ben realized what she was saying. “Yeah… it does.”

Kylo’s interrogation was interrupted by a request from his troops for backup. He realized it was time to go. Any distraction from his current focus might be all it took to lose control, and that was something he couldn’t risk. He didn’t have the droid, but his prisoner had seen the map. Right now, she was all he was focused on. If she had the map to Skywalker in her mind, that was enough. He used the Force to knock his prisoner unconscious and carried her off through the woods to his ship. 

“Such a romantic start to our life together.” Rey mused.

“Listen, we were both doing the best we could at the time.”

“That we were.” She agreed.

They walked to the edge of the woods together and watched as Kylo’s fleet of ships took off. The rubble of Maz’s former home was teaming with survivors and Resistance troops pulling people from the wreckage. As the dust settled, everyone did their best to figure out what to do next.

“I guess we should wait to check until things clear out.” Rey said.

“Agreed.” Ben replied. They both knew they might have to move debris to get where they needed to go, and if rocks started floating around with no explanation that would have more than a little effect on whatever had happened here after they left. 

What happened next was something neither of them expected, but realized they should have. Leia’s ship appeared in the sky above them and landed. Han and Chewie walked out of the scattered remains of Maz’s castle to greet it.

“Oh gods..” Ben said. “They were here together right after we left…”

“You didn’t sense your father here?” Rey asked turning to him.

“I already knew he was here when we got intel that the Falcon had come here with the droid. I shielded my mind from his presence. I wasn’t ready to face him yet.” He thought about it for a moment, remembering the experience. “The combination of seeing Maz’s home destroyed and the urge to find you was more than enough to keep those walls up.”

Rey took his hand and held it tightly. She felt terrible for not thinking about what a tough experience this could be for him. The mental fog of pregnancy brain had a way of making her more oblivious to things than she normally would have been. 

“I’m so sorry sweetheart, I didn’t realize…”

“It’s ok. I knew what we were walking into. I mean, I didn’t think about this part but I should have…” He thought about it for a moment, turning to Rey. “Going back in time is always going to be tricky for me. There’s no avoiding that. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be doing it.” He looked back at his parents. He could sense they were talking about him. “If anything my past is the reason we’re doing this, so it never happens to any one else ever again.”

Rey watched Ben as he saw his parents coming to terms with the fact that they’d just missed him. “Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?” she asked.

“What?” It was the last thing he’d expected her to say after watching his former self abduct her as his prisoner.

“How proud I am of you- being here with me, doing this, seeing all this, after all you’ve been through. You’re incredible Ben, you really are. I can’t think of anyone else in the galaxy that would be strong enough to do this, to be standing here with me doing what you’re doing.”

He sighed as he smiled down at her. It was everything he needed to hear. “Thank you sweetheart.” He took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. Holding her tightly he said “I wouldn’t be able to do any of this if not for you.” Rey held onto him as she thought about how true that was, how much they needed each other to get through all they were facing. 

They watched together silently as teams of Resistance fighters swept the area looking for survivors and accounting for the dead. They pulled several people from the wreckage of Maz’s castle. Some were alive, some weren’t. The survivors that were strong enough were rushed onto planes to be taken to the nearest city for treatment. A few people passed after just being rescued, their injuries being too much to fight. All of those who’d passed were buried in the forest along the perimeter near where Rey and Ben stood. A few Resistance fighters said some words over them, not even knowing their names. Poe was among the fighters holding the spontaneous ceremony. 

Rey sensed Ben was feeling a mix of awe and anger at what he was witnessing. 

“What is it sweetheart?

“The First Order caused all this destruction. We should have been the ones doing this. I had no idea they stayed after and did… all of this.”

“With you mother leading them, of course they’d take care of those who needed it.”

“I’m not surprised at all.” He replied. “The First Order… everything about it, all of it was such a fucking lie.” There was the anger Rey had been sensing. “We told ourselves we were bringing order to the galaxy. All we did was cause chaos and suffering. There’s no reason any of this should have happened.”

“And now it’s gone because you left that life and helped me put an end to it.” Rey reminded him. “The Final Order would have been far worse than anyone could have ever imagined. You made sure that didn’t happen.”

“I just wish I could have realized that sooner.”

Rey desperately wished she could take some of the pain he was feeling away from him, but knew this might not be the last time he experienced what he was going through. As he’d said, going back in time with him would always be tricky. They’d both have to get used to that one way or another. Finally she thought of something to say to hopefully put it into perspective.

“It’s like you said, you did the best you knew how to do at the time, with everything that was thrown at you. And you still are. You’re doing amazing things considering what you’ve been through. That’s the most important thing.”

“You’re right.” He said, holding onto that very important truth. “You’re absolutely right.”

They continued watching as the resistance made sure they’d cleared the wreckage of survivors. Those that could take off on their own ships did so, those that needed assistance onto ships got it. Eventually the last of the Resistance ships left, having cleared the area. 

Finally the only sounds they could hear were the sounds of the forest. What had been a bustling space port just hours before was completely abandoned after the hell that had broken loose there that day. 

Rey looked up at Ben as an eerie silence enveloped them. 

“Are you ready to do this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

They walked past heaps of twisted metal and downed planes, past piles of rubble and smoldering debris. They finally came to the spot where they both figured the stairway to the basement would be. 

“There…” Ben pointed to an opening in one of the many piles of rubble. “That must be it. I’m going to go inside first and check it out. You wait here.”

“Be careful.” Rey pleaded.

“I’m always careful.” He said, igniting the saber for light and smiling as he turned and disappeared into the darkness.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Rey said to herself as she waited.

About a minute later Ben reappeared. “It’s safe down here. The lower level is solid as a rock. Do you want to come check it out?”

“Sure” she said making her way to the entrance to the stair well. Ben held his hand out for her and they descended down the stairs into the basement together. He held the saber up above them to provide light for both of them. 

Once they got to the door of the vault where he’d left his trunk years ago he was surprised to see the door open. 

“Why would this be open… wait, how did you get into here in the first place?” 

“What do you mean?”

“These vaults, they’re supposed to remain locked at all times. How did you open it?”

“I don’t remember…” She tried to think of how it had all unfolded. “I think the door just opened for me when I got down here.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s how I remember it happening.”

“Why would a heavily locked door just open for no reason?”

“Maybe the Force did it.” At this point she was used to that being the automatic answer to all of their questions.

“The Force opened a locked door to a vault?”

“The Force got me pregnant and brought you back after surrendering your entire life force. It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that’s happened to us.”

“Good point.” 

They headed inside the vault together and spotted the trunk, still resting where both had left it the last time they’d been in the space. Ben turned to look at Rey for a moment. 

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just- something I remembered from the last time I was here. Remind me to tell you about it when we get back.” He turned to look at the trunk. “Let’s check what’s in this thing and get out of here.”

The hinges of the trunk creaked with age as he opened it. He rifled through its contents for a moment, checking to see that everything was there. 

“Looks like it’s all here.”

“Wonderful.” Rey replied. “You ready to get out of here?”

“Absolutely.” Ben responded. 

They each held a handle on the end of the trunk. Rey reached out to take hold of the saber with Ben. They closed their eyes and pictured themselves back in the comfort of their home. Moments later they were standing in their living room, holding the trunk between them. 

“I can’t wait to see what all you’ve got in here.” Rey said excitedly. “It’s like a time capsule of your adolescence.”

“A time capsule of my adolescence… You sure you really want to see what’s in here?” Ben asked. 

“Yes of course I do! Open it up!”

He set the trunk of the floor and opened it, bringing its contents out and setting them on the table. There was his calligraphy set, a tangled chain decorated with ancient beads and charms, several copied scrolls, and vials of ink among other things. A large piece of equipment wrapped in fabric caught Rey’s attention.

“What’s that?”

Ben unwrapped it. “This is a sextant. It’s about 4000 years old. It’s an ancient navigational tool. Like I said this was stuff I thought I might need if I was on the run.”

“You had your own starship and you kept ancient navigational antiques around?”

Ben smiled. “I’m not saying this was all perfectly logical, just stuff I liked having around.”

Rey thought to herself how much she wished she’d been able to meet Ben during this period of his life. From everything he was pulling out of this box it was clear he’d been a fascinating young man, filled with dreams and a spirit for adventure. How different their lives may have been had they met early on….

“Well that’s all of it.” Ben remarked pulling a few small tools out Rey didn’t recognize. 

“Wait…” Rey’s technical eye noticed the bottom of the trunk was a little too high compared to the actual bottom of the trunk. “Does this trunk have a false bottom?”

Ben looked up at her, a slightly guilty smile spreading across his face. “Nothing gets past you.”

“Well, let’s see it! What did young Ben keep hidden away in his secret stash?”

Ben pulled the bottom of the trunk out revealing the compartment below. All that was in it was a small leather pouch. 

“I’m almost afraid to look in here.” He said pulling it out.

“Why? What is it?”

Curiosity got the better of him. He opened it, checking to see what was inside. As he suspected the years had turned its contents to dust.

“What is that?” Rey asked again.

“Something we shouldn’t cook with.” Ben said closing it quickly.

“Please Ben, tell me what it was? I’m dying to know. My teen years were spent salvaging through old heaps of metal for survival. I never got to hide things away in secret trunks in ancient basements.”

Ben sighed. She always knew how to get the truth out of him. 

“I guess it’s time I told you about the trip with Uncle Lando that led to me packing this trunk up in the first place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A trip down memory lane with teenage Ben and Uncle Lando... this should be good.


	53. Pasaana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben tells Rey of about what led up to him packing a box of things to hide away at Maz's place. The story sparks another memory that reminds them just how deep their bond goes.

“This I can’t wait to hear.” Rey said settling into the couch to get comfortable. 

Ben sighed. This certainly wasn’t a story they’d tell their daughters, but he knew he could share anything with Rey. 

“One summer, when I was on a break from training with Luke, my mom and dad sent me to spend some time with Lando. I was 15 at the time. They were always too busy to keep a teenage boy entertained at home for any period of time so they would send me to hang out with Lando and his family. My mom and dad were always tied up in politics and whatever latest mission they’d been involved with. Lando and his wife Tendra were more the type that saw peacetime as an opportunity to make the most of life. They were always looking for the next adventure. On this trip we all went to the festival on Pasaana to camp in the desert. Their daughter Cora was around one. It was a perfect event to take kids too.”

Rey remembered the small children she’d seen enjoying themselves at the same festival. The sight had made her mind drift to Ben and her visions of their future family she’d had when they touched hands. Realizing he’d been to the same festival in his earlier years, it made even more sense her mind had gone to him. Somehow, she must have sensed he’d been there before.

Ben went on. “The last evening of the festival, Tendra went to bed early with Cora. It had been a long couple of days for a small kid and she was over it. Lando and I went to see the dance troupes performing around the bonfire. It was a pretty rowdy part of the festival, and Lando was given some mycelum from one of his trader friends. “

“What’s mycelum?” Rey asked. 

“They’re, um, they’re a kind of mushroom that used to grow on Illum. The kind that make you see all kinds of things. Needless to say a festival in the desert is a prime spot for finding them.”

“Ah ok…” Growing up among scavengers at a space port, Rey had heard more than enough about all the mind bending things the galaxy had to offer. “So what happened next?”

“Well, Lando broke off a small piece and gave it to me. He said “Here’s a little something to make your last night on Pasaana extra special.” and then he gave me the pouch saying “and something for the road should you need it at school. Don’t touch any of that tonight. What I gave you is more than enough. Remember with this stuff- a little goes a very long way.” I think he could tell I was dreading going back to the academy and probably felt sorry for me. It was his way of trying to make sure I had a good time.”

“Lando gave a fifteen year old hallucinogenic mushrooms?”

“Yeah… like I said, he wasn’t always the best at making decisions.”

Rey reminded herself Lando absolutely would not be the godfather of any of their children. “Ok, continue.”

“Well the thing about mycelum is, they affect Force sensitives a lot more than non-Force sensitives. Lando had no idea of course. He thought he’d just given me a tiny amount that would give me a good evening. It ended up sending me somewhere neither of us were prepared for, and it lasted a while.”

Rey could only imagine what kind of effects it had caused, especially with all Ben had going on in his mind at the time. She was almost too afraid to ask.

“So… what did it do to you?”

“Most of the time it was wild, but great. It felt like being in a different universe. Then every so often I’d see something that would make me lose my mind. I saw some truly horrifying stuff. One second I’d be watching the music coming out of the drums and pipes in all different colors, instruments dancing along with the dancers, the mountains turning inside out along with the sky, things like that. The next there’d be demons coming out of the instruments. The instruments themselves would join them, killing people in the crowd as they came after me. I had no idea what was happening at the time but looking back it was most likely the parts of the dark side that had infected my mind rearing their ugly head. Basically it was back and forth between whatever ridiculousness my real mind could come up with, and the part the dark side was trying to control. Poor Lando didn’t know what was happening. After I lost it a couple of times he took me back to his ship and I rode it out the rest of the night in one of the bunks.

“The next morning, when my dad showed up to pick me up and take me home, it was still running through me.” Ben smiled remembering seeing his father that morning. “You should have seen his face. He knew the minute he saw me what had happened. He looked at Lando like “Did you give my son mushrooms?!” Lando didn't miss a beat. He just said “You didn’t seem to mind them when we were that age.” So dad said “That's not the point! Leia is gonna kill me!!!” Lando just smiled and laughed like “Hahaha yeah she is, isn’t she?” Dad couldn’t get me on the Falcon fast enough. 

“The ride home was mostly silent. I could tell he was caught between wanting to laugh about it like Lando did and knowing he was about to face a new kind of suffering from mom. Of course flying through light speed with it still affecting me wasn’t great either. Each time I’d do or say something ridiculous he’d look at me like going home was more and more hopeless. Right before we got home he finally said “Ben, I’m gonna need you to do your best to hold it together when you see your mother. If you don’t you can kiss hanging out with your godfather ever again goodbye.” So I said “Sure dad, I’ll do my best.” Of course once we got inside the house and I saw her I didn’t stand a chance.”

“Well this should be interesting.” Rey said smiling and leaning back into the couch. She had no doubt Leia would have seen right through anything Han and Ben tried to get past her.

Ben went on. “She said “How was your time at the festival sweetie?” For some reason I just started uncontrollably laughing. I couldn’t have stoped laughing if my life depended on it, which it might as well have. She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Right as she was about to say something I saw a fire breather come out of the wall behind her. I screamed like a baby and ducked behind the couch. She turned to dad and yelled “What did you DO?!” and he said “Me?! I didn’t do anything!” So she asked “Well… what did your FRIEND do?!” He took a second to respond and finally said “Lando… may have given Ben something… to make the festival… a… more unique experience.”

Ben looked right at Rey with what he said next. “Have you ever felt rage come off of someone so hot it makes you jump?”

Rey looked at him, eyebrows raised. “One person specifically comes to mind, yes.” 

Ben laughed. “Fair enough. Well, she’s who I inherited that particular talent from. Her anger could fill a room like bomb. Between being a smartass fifteen year old and not being in my right mind, I popped my head up from behind the couch and said “When can I go see uncle Lando again?” Dad stared at me like I was an idiot and yelled “NEVER!” Mom tried to pretend like she was keeping it together and said “Honey, go to your room. Your father and I need to talk.” The look on dad’s face… you’d have thought he was facing a herd of rathtars. I knew exactly what that meant. They were about to have a big fight.”

Ben sighed remembering what happened next. “I just went back to my room and force slammed the door as hard as I could. Of course I forgot it had a no-slam mechanism on the hinges. Dad had seen to that a few years before. The whole thing just broke right off the wall behind me. So the door to my room is laying there on the ground broken, and my parents are yelling at each other down the hall, fighting about me. Dad was like “Leia he’s just a kid! This stuff is going to happen!” And mom was like “He’s not just a kid! You know how serious it can be! Now you want me to send him back to Luke… like that?!” She was livid. It went on like that for a while.”

Ben paused for a moment, remembering how desperate things could feel at fifteen years old. “I just stood there looking at the door and listening to them like “Why is my life like this?” Next thing I know I’m packing this trunk up with stuff to stash at Maz’s the next day. We always stopped by there on our way to Luke’s. I always had running away in the back of my mind, and that was enough to make me actually want to do it. As I was packing it I felt something in my back pocket. It was this pouch. Somehow I still had it with me. I knew I should never touch it again so I hid it in the false bottom thinking maybe I could sell it if I was ever short on credits.”

“Your plan was to run away from home with nothing but a pouch of mushrooms to sell and live off of?”

“Like I said I didn’t have it all planned out. That’s all of it though. That’s the story of how this trunk got packed up and left at Maz’s place.”

Rey stared at him silently for a moment. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but it certainly hadn’t been that. “You really are something else.” She said, finally breaking out into laughter. 

“Oh so that’s hilarious is it?” Ben asked, glad at the fact that she was able to laugh about it. 

“It’s just, well, it’s a little ironic. The other night you asked Poe how he ended up as a Spice Runner on Kijiimi and you came very close to ending up there yourself.”

Ben smiled, remembering just how ironic it had been that he'd asked such thing. “That wouldn’t have been so bad. It would have been much better then where I eventually did end up.” 

Rey’s laughter died as she realized how true that was. Suddenly she remembered something else. “Wait wasn’t there something about the trunk and the vault that you were going to tell me?”

“Oh right. Well, the next day when I was at Maz’s place the stuff was wearing off but I was still seeing and hearing things that didn’t make sense once in a while. When I went down to leave the trunk in the vault I heard something else. I kept hearing a little girl crying and yelling like she was trapped somewhere. She kept screaming “Noooo! Come back! Come back!” I ran up and down the vaults trying to hear which one she was trapped in but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I didn’t know what to do so I went up and told Maz. She looked at me like I was nuts, but just in case she checked all the vaults and they were empty. She could tell I was a little on edge and asked if I was ok. I told her what happened and she said “Ah… Lando. That doesn’t surprise me.” I knew it was something else though. When we were standing there yesterday I remembered that. I hadn’t thought about that in years. Remind me, how old were you when you were left on Jakku?”

Rey was speechless. She couldn’t believe what she'd just heard. After a moment she was able to answer him. “Um, I think, I was five.”

Ben nodded. “That lines up then. I was 15 at the time. I think it was one of the first times I heard you in the Force.”

Rey knew exactly what had happened. Her emotions on the day her parents had left were the strongest she’d ever felt as a child. Every fiber of her being was screaming seeing her parents ship take off. Her tiny five year old self had felt like she might explode seeing her parent's ship leaving and taking with it the only safety she'd ever known. It must have been strong enough to let Ben know she was in distress. Suddenly she remembered what she’d heard from the saber the day it had called out to her. 

“When the saber called out to me, I heard myself screaming for my parents. That’s what made me go down to the basement. I’d been up stairs and heard it several times coming from the basement. It must have been some kind of echo from your memory tied to the trunk and all that was in it.”

He thought about it for a moment. “A memory stored in objects that came out right when you were near them… all the ways the the Force lets you know it’s looking out for you. It’s almost… comforting.”

Rey understood immediately what he meant. As horrible as that day had been, in a way it was comforting to know Ben had been worried about her thousands of miles away on Takodana. As lonely as they’d both felt all those years, they’d never truly been alone. Somehow across all of the things that had kept them apart, the Force still had ways of letting them know they had each other, and always would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I re-watched the scene in TFA of Rey finding Ben's things I got chills hearing her cries as a little girl. Something about it made me think he may have heard her cries at some point. Who knows...
> 
> Note on canon- It was brought to my attention that the festival on Pasaana happens every 42 years. Before writing this chapter I had checked the visual dictionary for how often it took place and it says “Every two years” on page 104. Apparently this was a typo that was meant to say every 42 years as a nod to the original trilogy. I’ll make sure to go back and correct this along with one or two other TROS canon mix ups I’ve noticed when I’m done with the story. 
> 
> When you start writing a story a couple days after a major movie is released, a few canon details inevitably end up getting confused. So far I’ve been using the visual dictionary to clarify things since we don’t have the movie yet, but clearly even that can have its faults lol. I’ll be sure to go back and fix any incorrect TROS canon info when I’m done writing the story. For now I’d rather focus on getting new material out to my awesome readers. 
> 
> A big thank you to all of you for reading along and letting me know you’re enjoying it! I love reading how many of you are loving this story as well as your own reflections on meanings you’ve taken from it. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes our heroes next! ❤️


	54. Maintaining Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey dreams again of a life she and Ben never had, and discovers a side of herself she’s never known before.

Tazla sat dispassionately on her throne, listening to yet another general elaborating on whatever recent rebellious world he’d subdued. Now that her daughters spent a few hours a day with a tutor to begin their studies, Tazla had time to rule alongside her husband. She’d thought it would be what she wanted, but truth be told the never ending logistical discussions it involved often bored her to tears. She couldn’t believe how complicated people could make subjugating those less powerful than themselves. There were always far too many questions for the two of them, questions their underlings should have easily been able to answer on their own if they had half the brain matter sentient beings were supposed to have. Nonetheless, she did her duty and pretended to be devoted to it. 

As the general droned on she looked to her left at Kylo, seated on his throne next to her. Four years together and her desire for him was every bit as heated as they day she’d first given herself to the dark side. So long as they had to sit here together, she might as well make it interesting....

She reached her left hand behind his head and began lazily running her fingers through his hair. He leaned into her touch, the sensation of her fingers on his scalp always drew him away from whatever his mind had been on at the moment. Tazla entered his mind and teased him further. 

_The things I’d rather be doing to you right now… ___

_The general’s report isn’t holding your interest I take it? ___

_Do they ever? ___

The general in front of them paused, noticing they weren’t paying attention. Kylo’s gaze snapped back to him.

“General Quinn, is there a problem?”

“No sir, of course not, I-“

“It didn’t sound to me like you were finished with your report. Do you intend to waste more time than you already have or would you like to get it over with?”

Quinn took a deep breath and continued, doing his best to fix his gaze on the wall behind them so he could ignore the flagrant display that was taking place in front of him. This wasn’t the first time the young overlords had acted like they couldn’t care less about the information he’d brought to them, nor would it be the last. 

Tazla and Kylo continued their conversation in their minds unbeknownst to the general and the six knights of Ren that stood at attention along the walls of the throne room. 

_You know… I’m still soaked from what you did to me last night. ___

_It certainly felt like you enjoyed yourself. ___

_You know I did. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day. ___

_I thought I sensed you were still reeling from it. ___

_I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use for it. More like… riveted by the thought of it. ___

_Oh? I guess that’s a slight difference. ___

_You know what I mean. I know it’s my turn to return the favor. ___

_That I do look forward to. ___

He reached over and placed a hand on her thigh, squeezing it to let her know her words were having their intended effect. Nothing pleased him more than the knowledge that his wife was as hungry for him as he was for her. 

Tazla took a moment to glance around the room at their stoic, dutiful knights. The one thing Tazla truly enjoyed about sitting on the throne of the Sith was sensing their knights doing everything in their power to repress their desire for her. Kylo was fiercely protective of his wife, and had he sensed the slightest bit of longing for her from any one of his men they’d have been introduced to a kind of suffering far worse than anything Snoke had ever thrown at them.

Kylo felt Tazla’s mind wandering and knew what was coming next. He’d fantasized about the kind of dark ruler she’d make at his side, but never could have anticipated just how devoted she would be to making those around them suffer. It was one of many delightful surprises she’d brought into his life. No one was a bigger target of her mind games than his knights, who’s devotion to and time spent with their leader on missions away made them her prime targets. Few things earned her wrath like those that took her husband away from her. 

The previous night he’d returned from a couple weeks away, and had made sure to make up for time lost as soon as he’d returned to her. He should have known today she’d be itching for the opportunity to show his knights who held his greatest devotion. General Quinn was unfortunately caught in the cross fire of her games, not that she minded the distraction. Kylo could sense her delight at the opportunity of another subject to witness her debauchery. 

Tazla scooted to the edge of her throne and turned to face her husband. She took the hand he had on her thigh and gently encouraged it down her leg, up under where her skirt ended. His skin bristled with anticipation as his hand met bare flesh above her boots where she normally wore tights. She slowly drug his hand back up her leg, bunching her skirt up as it went along, finally letting it rest where it had been before- this time with no skirt in the way to stop him from feeling her warm, bare thigh. She let go of his hand and cocked her head to the side to look at him, waiting for a reaction. 

His face remained fixed as his eyes darted to look at her. She smiled and bit her lip, letting him know she was just getting started. Kylo let out a heavy sigh.

_You know, we should at least pretend like we’re listening to the general’s report. ___

_What little faith you have in my ability to listen. I haven’t missed a single word he’s said. ___

_I’m sure you haven’t. ___

Kylo did his best to stare forward at the general, gripping his hand firmly where she’d left it, pretending to not be completely enraptured by his wife’s physical advances. He could see the general’s brow was starting to sweat as the sense of his anxiety became more pronounced. The poor fool. The sight of a woman craving her husband’s touch had him going to pieces and she’d barely just begun. He clearly wasn’t used to the presence of a woman that knew how to satisfy a man’s needs. 

Tazla leaned over and whispered in Kylo’s ear. “Do I have to do everything? I’ve given you free access to me and you won’t move your hand further without me doing it for you?”

His full attention snapped to her as she leaned back from him, smiling. Free access? Gods that meant she wasn’t wearing anything at all under her dress.

“I um, I believe that’s it.” The general spoke up, cutting his report short. He couldn’t take much more of whatever was going on in front of him. He had better things to do than witness to fully grown adults behaving like besotted teenagers. 

“Thank you General Quinn, your report has been most inspiring.” Kylo said, his tone suddenly upbeat. “Your devotion to your work is commendable. We look forward to hearing about your progress as you continue maintaining order in the more unruly regions of the galaxy.” He did appreciate someone who knew when their presence wasn’t needed anymore. 

General Quinn bowed and turned to leave, marching out of the room as quickly as his boots could take him. 

As the door closed behind him a hologram from the guards outside came on in front of them. “Your excellencies, are you ready to receive the next general?” 

Tazla turned to look at her husband as she replied firmly. “NO. We’ve had quite enough of that for now. We’ll be taking a… bit of a break for the moment. We’ll let you know when we’re ready for you to send the next one in.” She hit a button on the side of her throne to disconnect the message before they had a chance to respond.

Kylo relaxed and leaned back into his throne.

“Something on your mind darling?”

“You know what’s on my mind.” She purred back at him excitedly, sliding out of her seat and over onto his lap. They could feel the anxiety of his knights boiling higher as they threw up wall after wall in their minds to shield them from what was about to happen in front of them. The tension in the room only made Tazla want to ravage her husband more.

“Well…” Kylo replied stroking her naked thigh. “You’d better get on with it. I don’t think the generals are going to wait out there all day.”

“They’ll wait as long as I command them to wait.” She snapped, leaning in to kiss her husband.

“That they will.” He said just before their lips met. Her lack of respect for his generals was almost heartwarming. 

As their lips locked in a deep, passionate kiss she reached down and guided his hand further under her skirt and in between her thighs, till his fingers felt the warm inviting lips of her cunt. He instantly felt how wet she was with desire for him. Her plush heat was too much of a temptation to hold back from. He pushed forward, his finger diving inside of her to get a deeper sense of her how ready she was for him.

“Ah…” She gasped as he pushed into her. “Careful sweetheart, I think I’m still a bit sore from all you did last night.” Her actions betrayed her words as leaned into his touch, rocking her hips to let him feel deeper of inside her. 

He leaned his head back as he looked at her skeptically. “You… too sore to take a finger?”

She smiled evasively. “Well... I may need a little warming up, but not before I have my turn with you first.” 

She slid back off his lap and knelt between his legs, reaching up to undo his pants and free his erection. She stroked his cock for a moment, watching precum glisten from its tip as she teased him with her eyes.

“You’ve made me wait far too long for this, my Supreme Leader.” She scolded coyly. 

“I don’t see anything stopping you now.” He replied smugly, settling back into his throne. 

She smiled up at him as her mouth dove onto his cock, taking as much of him in as her throat would allow. 

“Uggghhhh” he moaned, feeling his wife’s lips on him again for the first time in far too long. He would have conquered as many galaxies as she asked him too just to feel her warm, flushed lips stroking up and down his shaft. The way the fullness of her tonged pressed against the tenderest spot on his tip as she guided her mouth up and down had him completely surrendered to her. As powerful as he was, he was no match for the perfect balance of warmth and pressure she was able to create just for him. By now she knew every spot on his body as well as her own, and used that knowledge to her full advantage. 

As if the perfection of her mouth wasn’t enough, the things she did to him with her eyes while she pleasured him nearly drove him mad. The way she looked up at him as if she lived solely to worship his cock with her mouth would have sent a lesser man over the edge. The fact that she reached down and pleasured herself while doing so, moaning with her own pleasure on his cock adding extra sensation to all that she did to him made it a miracle he was able to last for any amount of time. He laid back into his throne, breathing deeply as he soaked up the sensations for as long as he could manage- drinking in the ecstasy of her mouth on him, feeling her eyes ravaging his body with her gaze as she pleasured herself at the same time. For a moment he almost forgot there were six other people in the room... 

Of course they weren’t alone. His wife’s hunger was driven by the fact that what they were doing had an audience. Nothing urged her passions on more than the feeling of being able to do whatever she wanted to in front of a group of helpless victims. For most of their lives, more people than they cared to remember had kept them apart. The freedom that came from putting their passions on display was one of the most exhilarating and liberating things either of them had ever felt. 

Kylo clenched his eyes shut as she brought him closer and closer to the edge. “That’s enough.” he whispered, hoping she took the hint and realized how close she had him. She did no such thing. After a few more seconds he spoke up. “I.. I said that’s ENOUGH.” She popped up just in time, smiling with the satisfaction of knowing just how close she’d pushed him to losing it. As much as he wanted to unload inside of her precious mouth, he wasn’t about to let this end as quickly as it had began. 

She stood back up and began climbing on to his lap, ready to take him.

Kylo stopped her. “I thought you said you’d need warming up too.”

She smiled demurely. “Well… I won’t stop you if you insist.”

He stared at her hungrily as he pulled her back off his lap, getting up and moving around to the side of his throne. He knew how much she loved looking out over their captive audience as he pleasured her from behind. He wasn’t about to hold her back from that, not this time. 

He positioned her next to the side of his throne and kicked her legs apart. With one hand on her hip to steady her he pushed her down till her hands hit the throne’s side table. He pulled her skirt up to expose her beautiful ass, her cunt framed from behind by the back of her thighs just how he liked it. She bucked her head up and looked out to her left, defiantly taking in the view. The sight of her bent over like an animal for him, boldly staring out as his knights, daring one of them to react was everything he needed. He knelt down behind her, savoring the sight of her wet cunt presenting itself to him. His mouth dove into her from behind, lapping up the wetness between her sumptuous folds. 

Her moans echoed throughout the room as he tasted and savored the most delicate parts of her. His palms pushed up under her ass as he slid his fingers in between her lips from behind, spreading her flesh apart so his mouth could reach deeper. He leaned up into her, his thick lips covering her in warmth as his tongue fiercely enveloped and massaged her clit. His nose nuzzled into her ass as she trembled with pleasure on his face. 

“Kylo… oh GODS!” She moaned loudly as her hands gripped the side table’s surface to steady herself. A moment ago she’d had him totally surrendered to her, and in an instant he’d made her desperately, undeniably his. Her body shivered with pleasure as she did her best to keep her legs steady and take in all that he was doing to her. He could feel how she craved every lick of his tongue that brought her pleasure higher and higher, edging her closer to coming undone. 

Tazla gazed out around the room as the sensation of her husband’s tongue rippled through her. Something about the way he devoured her from behind like this reached something deep and primal in her that only made her hunger for more- more power, more pleasure, more of everything in life that she craved. She frantically tried to keep her head up, her eyes focused on their underlings, searching for the slightest sign of weakness. Their ability to stand eyes forward, unflinching, unresponsive in any way to all that was going on in front of them was proof that they’d learned from the best. Though they were an unkept, unruly bunch, their disciplined abilities in the Force were a testament to how well her husband had trained them. 

Tazla closed her eyes as she pushed her hips back, opening up more for her husband while drinking up the energy in the room. She could feel herself and her lover gaining power from all they were doing. Their dark passion surging through the space combined with the fierce tension of the knights fighting to maintain control was almost explosive. With every moan Tazla let escape her lips the Knights emotions threatened to overpower them. 

She gladly drank up the power that came from their emotions. It was the knight’s involuntary sacrifice to the dark dyad that ruled over them. There was nothing more powerful than what she and Kylo were doing- feeding their carnal desires for each other while draining the power of those around them that served them. They already had the knight’s physical servitude, but by doing what they were doing they were also demanding that their power in the Force be given to them as well. Kylo and Tazla Ren were the most powerful beings in existence, yet they still craved more. 

Wetness dripped down the sides of Kylo’s jaw as he licked and sucked the tender flesh between Tazla’s lips. He felt pleasure and tension building between her hips as he brought her closer and closer. He closed his eyes and curled two fingers, using the Force to hit just the right spot inside of her to make her come undone. 

Her body shuddered as her orgasm began to roll through her. The combination of his warm wet mouth fully covering her while using the Force to hit just the right spot inside of her was exactly what she needed. Her head snapped back and her eyes rolled shut as her moans echoed throughout the chamber of their throne room. Kylo reached around with one arm and held her up as she threatened to collapse for a moment, regaining her steadiness a moment later as her orgasm subsided. 

“Now I think you’re ready to take me.” He whispered as he pulled away, wiping her wetness from his mouth and pulling her up to stand with him. 

“Standing like this… or” she gasped, barely able to get the words out. 

“No, I think you’ve had enough of that.” He smirked as he brought her back around his throne and sat down on the edge of his seat, pants down, cock fully erect and ready to take her. He reached up and spun her around to face outward, knowing she loved a view when he took her in front of his knights. Feeling the hunger for their power inside of her made him want to give her everything she craved and so much more. 

He lifted her skirt up around her hips, giving himself a perfect view of her ass has he brought her back down onto him. She reached down and took his cock, guiding it inside her as she slid down on it. She stared out at their captive audience as she let a deep moan escape her lips, feeling every inch of him as it pushed deeper inside of her. 

Kylo shielded his face with one hand as he reached with the other and ripped open the back of her dress, sending it’s buttons flying in all directions. He pulled the fabric of her dress down around her waist, exposing her breasts which he cupped with both hands. Tazla leaned back into him as they rocked together, pushing deeper into him, rocking her hips forward and finding that perfect spot where his cock needed to be. Kylo teased her nipples and glided his teeth across her shoulder, adding to the pleasure that shot through her as she grinded down on her husbands cock. 

“You do love putting on a show.” He whispered, kissing her neck as she rocked in his lap. 

“You know this is all for you.” She replied between moans, leaning her head back into him as she arched her back, drinking in all he did to her breasts as she rocked and pushed down harder into him. 

“Somehow I think you’re enjoying this too.” He teased as he reached between her thighs and spread her legs wider, pushing their hips forward together as his cock dug into her spot. 

“aaaAAAaahh!” was all she was able to reply as his pressure drove into her perfectly. Kylo felt her body open up for him more as his cock dug deeper, forcing more and more delicious moans out of her.

As she began to bounce on him he leaned back, holding her hips and drinking in the sensation of her wet pussy stretching around him each time it came down on him. He was fully in awe of her as he watched her surveying the room, moaning on his cock as it shoved deeper inside of her, fully in her element. The most powerful woman in the galaxy defiantly rode her husband’s cock, daring one of his knights to betray their loyalty, drinking in their power as they resisted. Not a single one of them budged. He couldn't help but be proud of all seven of them in that moment, the six men he’d trained so well and his wife who’d fully devoted herself to the dark side to fulfill their shared destiny as the most powerful couple that had ever lived. 

The one regret he had in that moment was that no one was taking in the full sight of her beautiful mostly naked body bouncing on him as she rode him. Though it would have meant certain death for one of his knights, he was surprised none of them had ever found the risk worthwhile. The sound of her wet flesh slapping down on him would have drawn the eyes of a lesser man instantly. Perhaps he’d trained them too well. Had he been in their shoes he’d have gladly faced death for such a sight. 

“Kylo…” Tazla moaned as she bounced on him faster.

“Yes sweetheart?” He answered. 

“I’m… I’m gonna come…” she muttered.

“That’s it…” He urged her on, feeling her body electrify around him. “Come for me, come on my cock my beautiful empress.” 

“Aaaaahh… yes… Kylooooo!!!!” Her loud moans filled the room as she came undone on him, her body shuddering with pleasure as she exploded on him. He clenched his eyes shut, as he held his breath, not yet ready for this to be over. She grasped the sides of his throne and steadied herself as the waves of her pleasure rolled through her and eventually subsided, eagerly starting back up as soon as she found her strength. 

He opened his eyes and gripped her hips, bouncing her up and down more rigorously than before. This time he was determined to come undone with her. In addition to the intoxicating pleasure of lovemaking, the two of them felt the full energy of six grown men being drained before them as they put everything they had into resisting. Kylo knew if they went much longer one or all of them would likely pass out from all they’d taken from them. As much as he wanted to keep going, he didn’t need any dead knights on his hands if he could avoid it. They’d proved their loyalty more than enough having given nearly everything they had to their overlords. 

Kylo felt his wife’s body working up towards climax again as she bounced more vigorously on him. 

“Yes Tazla…” He moaned into her as he slammed her down harder and harder on him. “That’s it, that’s my good girl. Come undone for me like you know you want to.”

Tazla moaned and cried on his cock ecstasy as she pushed herself further and further. Kylo gripped her hips, slamming her down onto him fiercely, knowing that had she been able to find the words she’d have begged for just that. As she got closer to her breaking point, he reached up between her thighs and began rubbing her swollen clit to add an extra shock of pleasure to everything she was feeling. It was more than enough enough to make her scream. 

“Yes sweetheart, come for me, scream for me on my cock… I’m right there wi-“

“KYYLLOOO!!!” She screamed as she came undone. She threw herself back onto him, the force of her orgasm making him come into her as well. He gripped her hips down on him as he drove up into her with everything he had, his seed spilling inside of her as he moaned, filling her with his warmth. 

They laid back into the throne catching their breath. Suddenly they heard something that ripped them from the euphoria of their lovemaking. It sounded like a whisper coming from far away, but there was no mistaking what the whisper had said.

“Rey…” The name made them both jump to standing- Tazla clutching her dress to cover herself, Kylo struggling to pull up his pants, both fiercely looking around the room trying to figure out where it had come from.

“Rey…” Hearing it again made Kylo realize his knight’s obedience must have reached a breaking point. He ripped all of their helmets off with one hand so he could see their faces, each one of them filled with terror at what their leader might do to them next. 

“WHICH ONE OF YOU VILE PIECES OF TRAITOROUS SCUM DARED UTTER THAT NAME?!?!?!” He raged as both hands shot out to probe their minds. He tore into their thoughts to find which Knight had been the guilty party- and was shocked to find nothing but fear and innocence. None of them had been the source of the whisper. 

“Rey?” They heard it again, clearer this time as if the person saying it had entered the room. There was no one there but the eight of them who’d been there all along. 

“Rey?” Tazla’s panic and Kylo’s rage suddenly went to confusion. They looked at each other, eyes wide with shock as they realized the voice they were hearing was HIS. 

“Rey!” It was louder this time as Kylo desperately looked around the room, trying to figure out how in the Force such a terrible thing could be possible. His wife’s former name was filling their throne room, somehow coming from him. He was losing it, he thought to himself. He was finally losing his mind after all this time and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

Rey’s eyes fluttered open as she looked up to see Ben staring down at her.

“Rey! Sweetheart, are you alright?!” He asked, his hands on her shoulders and his face full of concern. 

She rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight flooding their bedroom. 

After a moment of coming to terms with reality, she was finally able to respond. 

“Yes, honey, I’m fine. Why?”

“I was in the kitchen finishing breakfast and heard you moaning loudly in your sleep. I was worried something might be wrong.”

Rey stared back at him stunned for a moment, suddenly breaking out into laughter.

“What? What’s so funny?” Ben asked, even more confused. 

“You’re never going to believe the dream I just had.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon note- In TROS General Quinn is one of Kylo’s generals that has a particular chip on his shoulder about being ruled over by someone half his age. I figured he was the perfect pawn to witness Tazla’s mind games.


	55. Dark Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey explains her dream to Ben, and they both come to a couple of realizations about what it could mean.

The medical equipment now littering their home was enough of a reminder that Ben had every right to be concerned. It had been a month since hearing Rose’s joyous news and Rey was now just past eight months herself. Though not quite yet to full term, twins were known for coming early. They’d made sure their home was ready for an early delivery just in case. 

Rey did her best to sit up, struggling with an enormous belly that felt ready to pop. She was amazed her body was capable of containing so much baby within it, and every day felt less and less sure they’d fit much longer if they gained another ounce. Ben helped stacking pillows behind her to get comfortable and went to bring her breakfast from the kitchen. The medical droids that had been monitoring her pregnancy had just recently put Rey on bed rest and he’d been at her side ever since, making sure her every need was taking care of. 

As Rey started telling him about her dream the reality of what she’d just been a part of began to set in. The erie thing about dreaming of herself as Tazla was she never had the self awareness to realize just how terrible she was being in the moment. In a way it made sense. Tazla wouldn’t have existed had she been fully honest with herself about just how wrong she was to live the life she’d chosen. The seductive power of the dark side held Tazla and Kylo captive every bit as much as those shackled by their rule.

Ben stared at her in disbelief as she explained how she’d tempted Kylo into making love in front of his knights. As much as he’d been a totally different person on the dark side, he never would have imagined taking his wife in front of his men. The idea both confused an intrigued him, mostly because he couldn’t imagine Rey being the one who’d instigate such a thing. Sure, Kylo had very little concept of boundaries or morality, but he’d always thought if they’d fallen together Rey would have been the one to keep things somewhat in check. Hearing her lust for power outpaced his own blew his mind. Above all though, he couldn’t imagine Kylo being in any way ok with his men seeing their love making as some kind of entertainment. It was literally the last thing he’d ever believe about himself, especially the jealous wreck of a man he’d been on the dark side. 

“So wait-” he interrupted her as she came to the part where he’d pleasured her from behind. “You, your dark side self, was actually turned on by the fact that all we were doing was in front of a room full of people? And Kylo was ok with this?” He remembered her shared excitement for his command room fantasy and wondered if her passions for such things went even deeper than he’d realized. 

Rey thought for a moment, realizing she was leaving out a key bit of information about why they’d been doing what they’d done. As the reality of it set in, she found herself afraid to admit what had actually happened. 

Ben sensed her hesitation. “Sweetheart you don’t have to be ashamed about anything with me. It’s like you said to me in the cave, nothing you could tell me would make me think of you any differently.”

Rey realized she’d better be honest with him. If anyone could help her understand this side of herself it was Ben. That’s who they’d always been to each other- the ones that helped each other make sense of a world that never seemed to make sense. 

“It wasn’t so much about being watched. That’s just the thing actually; the knights weren’t allowed to watch. Had one of their gaze’s wandered anywhere near what we were doing you’d have snapped their neck in an instant.”

“Thaaaaat makes a bit more sense.” Ben sighed. 

“It was the fact that they had to do everything in their power to resist looking at what we were doing that was what excited us. You know how you’ve taught me how to gain power from my emotions? This was taking that ability to the next level. We weren’t just gaining power from our own emotions, we were gaining power from their emotions that came from their struggle to control themselves.”

“So, by fucking in front of them and forcing them to resist reacting we were draining their energy? Gaining power off of them?”

“Exactly” 

“Damn… that’s…. wow…”

“What?” Rey suddenly worried she’d said too much.

“Which one of us was it that suggested doing that?” Ben already knew the answer without asking, but he figured he’d better ask to be sure.

“It didn’t feel like the first time we’d done it. There wasn’t much discussion leading up to it. It was clear we knew what we wanted to do before we did it.”

“Interesting.” Ben paused, hardly believing what he was hearing. “Apparently you would have far succeeded Kylo’s expectations of the kind of dark side ruler you could be.”

“How do you mean?”

“There was a time that every night I’d lay awake thinking about the kind of ruler you’d be along side me. The things we’d do together, how we’d be more powerful once we were together. What you just descried to me never once crossed my mind.”

“What are you saying?” She as almost afraid to ask.

“I’m saying if our dark side selves were doing that, it had to have been your idea.”

“What?” Rey couldn’t believe what he was saying. “How can that have been my idea? I didn’t even know such a thing was possible.”

Ben looked at her for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. “You as you are right now didn’t know that was possible. If you’d devoted yourself fully to the dark side and we’d studied it for years you’d have absolutely known that was possible.”

“So you’re saying I had to have been the one who suggested it?”

“I know Kylo never would have been the first to suggest anything like that.”

Rey suddenly realized how right he was. As fiercely protective as Ben was of her, Kylo would have been the same way to the point of insanity. He would have needed more than a little convincing to partake in such behavior, leaving Tazla to have been the one to do so. The realization hit Rey hard. 

“So you’re saying…. I would have been the darker of the two of us.”

“It’s hard to believe in a lot of ways, but yes that’s what it’s sounding like.”

“Hard to believe… how so?” Rey needed reassurance that the person she’d been in her dreams absolutely wasn’t the person she was.

“For starters, how much of a struggle you’ve had learning to draw up negative emotions on your own. The first time we tried it together I thought it was because you didn’t have much to draw from, but it could be you’ve developed exceptionally strong abilities to repress them.”

Rey put her head in her hands. So there was a possibility she was the dark monster she’d seen in her dreams… she was just really good at hiding it. 

“Honey that’s not a bad thing.” Ben reassured her. “That’s a really good thing. Some part of you is aware of how strong your darker side is and you’ve taken all the steps you need to make sure it doesn’t ever control you.”

His words were comforting in a way. Not in the way she’d hoped, but still comforting. 

“I guess… It’s something I’ve always known if I’m completely honest with myself.” She realized it was probably time to bring up another uncomfortable truth she’d been avoiding. “These dreams I’ve been having, the don’t feel like regular dreams. They’re much clearer. They feel a bit like the fantasies we’ve created together. I didn’t consciously make them, but somehow my consciousness made them for me.”

“I’d suspected that when you first started telling me about them.”

“Really?”

“Like you said they sounded stronger and clearer than just dreams. Dreams are a collection of passing scenes and images that don’t make sense. Everything you’ve told me about these dreams makes them sound like actual events you experienced.”

“But what could it all be for?” Rey wondered out loud. “Why would the Force be showing me this side of us that I never wanted to exist in the first place?”

“Maybe it’s a kind of a warning.”

“A warning?” Rey couldn’t imagine why the Force would be warning her about something she’d clearly chosen not to become.

“It could be something it wants you to see so you know the full possibilities of the dark side as you learn about that part of yourself. All the things you’ve been learning could have brought that up- a warning of what could be if you don’t maintain balance.”

Of course... The more he explained it the more it made sense, except for one part. 

“But then why wouldn’t you be having these dreams with me? Of what we could become together?”

“I already know exactly who I’d be on the dark side. Who I was alone was enough to know I never want to go back to that place again.”

Rey’s heart sank as she though about how true that was. What she’d had to endure as passing dreams he’d lived for several years of his life. The last thing he needed was a reminder of who that person was. He’d never be able to forget it. 

Another thought came into Rey’s mind… thoughts of the silver lining Ben’s time on the dark side had brought them, the deep insights and understanding he’d gained on that part of the Force because of that period of his life. Perhaps the Force was trying to give her a similar type of understanding. 

“Perhaps there’s a bit more to it than that.”

“More to it how?”

“More to it than just being a warning. Perhaps it’s trying to help me to understand something I’d have no way of understanding without having gone through it myself. It’s obvious your time on the dark side has given you depths of understanding of parts of the Force you never would have had if not having been through it.”

“That is true.” Though they’d never voiced it to each other, Ben was aware how his time on the dark side had helped them better understand the Force. 

Rey went on as her thoughts came together. “The best way to understand an enemy… is to learn to think like them. Maybe the Force is trying to teach me to think differently, to bring up that dark part of myself up and learn from it so we can both be aware how far someone like my grandfather would be willing to go for absolute power.”

“That’s a really good point...” As much as Ben hated to admit it, neither of them had been thinking about things they way they should have been. They’d been looking at all the mysteries they’d been trying to solve as balanced Force users, not as the dark side users they were hoping to defeat. They would need to think with the mindset of those they were trying to defeat to know what they were truly capable of.

Ben went on as his own thoughts on the matter solidified. “There is one way to know for sure if these dreams you’re having are just dreams, or part of a bigger picture the Force is trying to show us.”

“What’s that?”

“I think it’s time we start teaching Finn all the things you’ve been learning about the dark side.”


	56. Moving Up in the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group of friends share conversations about where they've been, and where they're going. Rey especially enjoys seeing Ben becoming part of the group.

Ben went on “If Finn starts having dreams of himself falling to the dark, we’ll know it’s not just you, but something the Force wants all of it’s students to see and understand.”

“That will be something.” Rey laughed. “Finn on the dark side- I can only imagine. Should we give him a warning first? Tell him about the dreams I’ve had and to be mindful of them?” 

Ben thought about it for a moment. “We should tell him to be mindful of his dreams and share anything that feels unusual, sure. But we shouldn’t tell him what to look for. He might put up walls out of fear if he knows what’s coming. We know he’s already said no to the dark side once so we know his head is in the right place.”

“Are we sure we want to treat the two scenarios as comparable? He said no to being a stormtrooper… Being a stormtrooper is a lot less appealing than being a dark Force user in a position of power. I’m sure most would run from the stormtroooper life the first chance they got.”

“In theory yes, but if that were totally true the First Order wouldn’t have had any troops.” Ben remembered the thousands of loyal troops he’d commanded as their Supreme Leader. “Doing the dirty work is a lot less alluring than being the ones benefitting from it, but there’s still a sense of security that comes from being on the side that’s more powerful.”

“I guess you’re right.” Rey said, remembering the day she’d met Finn. “I’d never met anyone so frightened as Finn was the day we ran into each other. The more time I spent around him, I could feel he’d seen something terrible and was trying to get as far away from it as he could. The fear of being on the run from all that is more than enough to keep people locked in a life they wouldn’t have chosen.”

Ben hated to think about the thousands of the poor souls that had been caught up in the First Order through no fault of their own. He wondered what had happened to them after the First Order fell. Had any been able to get away and find lives of their own? How many had fought to the end for a regime that never saw them as more than parts of a machine? 

His thoughts drifted to his childhood and the sculpture of Empire stormtrooper helmets in the middle of Hanna City. He wondered if it was still there. As a child he’d seen it as a monument to victory and freedom, a reminder of everything his parents had fought against and defeated. With the perspective he had now, having seen war from both sides, he realized there was nothing about such a memorial worth celebrating. 

“What is it sweetheart?” Rey had sensed his wandering thoughts and could tell something was bothering him.

“Talking about stormtroopers, it brings up a lot.”

“Anything you want to talk about?”

“Yeah, I do. There was this monument in Hanna City when I was a kid. It was put up after the Empire fell. It was a bunch of stormtrooper helmets painted with alliance symbols and other colorful artwork. It was supposed to symbolize freedom and victory. Having sensed the kind of fear people wearing those helmets feel, and knowing what kind of end they faced… it seems more than a little odd now to think about. I just wonder if Finn ever saw it, what he’d feel about it. If I saw Kylo’s helmet painted with flowers and peace signs thrown into some art installation it would make me feel more than a little….” He struggled find the right word.

“Disgusted?” 

“Exactly. No one puts those helmets on because it’s their life’s dream to go kill innocent people. They put those helmets on because they’ve been put through something terrible that’s made them think they have no other choice.”

Rey’s heart felt heavy thinking of all Ben and Finn had been through during that terrible part of their lives. “If we ever get to go back to Hanna city, maybe we can work on getting people to understand that. If it’s still there I’m sure Finn’s seen it. We should ask him what he thinks about it.”

“I might ask him when we train today.”

“That’s right, what will you be working on today?”

“I was thinking we’d do the usual routine, but now that we’ve talked about it I might start introducing him to the heavier stuff. He’s certainly ready.”

Rey felt a tinge of sadness that she’d miss out on her friends training while on bed rest, but knew Finn was in good hands. Seeing Ben getting out with their group of friends on his own made up for any sadness of being left out. Nothing made her heart happy like seeing the man she loved now part of the group of people she’d come to regard as family. Though it had been a shock at the time, she was grateful Finn and Poe had found them in the desert many months ago. Being a part of a community, small though it was, was everything they needed. 

Ben checked the time. “Speaking of training, I’d better get up to the temple soon. Zorii should be by in a bit to check on you. If there’s anything you need, don’t be afraid to reach out and let me know.”

“I promise.” Rey smiled. “You know… I just thought of one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“After everything I told you about my dream…” She smirked mischievously, “You shouldn’t have any problem sharing more of your fantasies from your days on the dark side with me.”

Ben broke into a smile. “I’ll make sure to think of some really good ones to share with you tonight.”

*****

Zorii popped her head in the door of the bedroom. “Hey momma! Are you ready for lunch yet?”

“Absolutely!” Rey replied, looking up from the pile of texts draped across her belly. “How’s Rose doing?”

“About the same. She’s barely able to keep anything down other than crackers and milk. It’s a good thing we’ve got those sea cows on the island to keep their fridge stocked. Making babies is hard work.”

“That it is.” Rey said remembering the early days. The recent days hadn’t been a cakewalk either. 

With Rose caught in the throes of early pregnacy nausea, the only woman friend Rey saw much anymore was Zorii. With two pregnant women around Rey had sensed the conflict inside her friend growing. After all the time they’d been spending together, she finally felt close enough to her ask if everything was ok. 

“How about you? How are you holding up?”

Zorii looked confused by the question. “Me? I’m fine, why?”

“You know how Force sensitives are able to sense others emotions more than most… I’ve sensed you having some anxiety around the whole baby topic. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but know that I’m here for you if there’s anything you do want to talk about.”

Zorii let out a deep sigh. “I wondered if you might have picked up on that. I guess I might as well get it out. I didn’t exactly get a great start in life. My family, if you could call it that, was more than a bit of a wreck. My dad ran off when I was little and my mom could barely take care of herself, let alone a kid. She spent more time looking for her next mistake than she ever did worrying about me. I ran away as soon as I was old enough to be on my own. Needles to say I haven’t had a great role model for what family is supposed to be like.”

“Oh Zorii, I’m so sorry, I had no idea…” Rey suddenly realized having a family could be just as traumatic if not more so than growing up without one.

“It’s ok, it is what it is. There’s nothing anyone can do about it now. It just makes it a little hard for me to ever imagine having a family of my own.”

Rey did her best to be sensitive to what her friend was going through. “You don’t have to want a family if that isn’t something you want. There’s much more to life than having kids. More importantly we’re all young. That’s not something you have to decide for a while if you don’t want to.”

Zorii got up, went over to the window, and stared out at the ocean. Rey could tell this was something she’d been struggling with for a while. 

“It’s just hard to see how excited Poe gets for you two and now Rose and Finn. I know that’s something he wants eventually. He came from a great family and can’t wait to have kids. I’m just not sure if it’s something I want. He’s already talking about wanting to get married-“

“Really?! That’s fantastic!” Rey blurted out, causing Zorii to look back at her. She realized from the heavy look on Zorri’s face that wasn’t the reaction she’d been hoping for. “I mean, is that something you want?” 

“That’s just it…” She said coming back to sit on the bed. “It would be, if I knew I could be the kind of woman he wants. A loving wife, a devoted mother, I never had that kind of role model. I never pictured myself being the kind of person that could have that kind of life. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

Rey realized immediately what her friend was struggling with. It was something she’d struggled with while being pregnant- the fear of ever being able to be the kind of mother children need when she didn’t have many memories of her own to draw from. Of course, Rey hadn’t really ever considered any alternatives. She’d always known she and Ben were destined to have a family together and truth be told had dreamed of that belonging. Still, it had been a daunting prospect when it happened as quickly as it did.

“You’re definitely not the only one who’s terrified of being a mom. The closer I get the more terrified I realize I am of it. I think that’s pretty natural. If that’s something you want though, there’s no reason you wouldn’t be a fabulous mom.”

Zorii thought about it for a moment. “That’s the thing I guess- If I’m honest with myself, I do know. I’d love a family. I’d love a family with Poe. There’s just that part of myself who’s seen how wrong it can go, and is afraid of turning into my mother.”

“Being afraid of following the family legacy is something I understand fully.” Rey said stretching. A cramp in her lower back had been bugging her all morning. 

It took Zorii a moment to realize what Rey was saying, but when she did it hit her hard.

“Oh Rey, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about…”

“Don’t apologize, there’s absolutely no need to. It’s no one’s fault we both came from families we wish we could forget. That’s the biggest irony of my story. I wish I could forget who my grandfather was, but history will never allow that. But my parents? Two good people who actually raised me as an infant and did their best to hide me from him? I can’t remember a thing about them no matter how hard I try. I’ve seen who I was in past lives but I can’t remember my own parents in this life.”

“Can you look for them, or memories of them- in the Force? Like how you saw your previous lives?”

Rey sat silent for a moment. A part of her had been afraid to ask that question. Her whole life had been spent wondering who her parents were, and now that she found the belonging she’d craved for so long some part of her mind had been afraid to bring that truth back up. 

“I suppose I could.” She replied. “Though it won’t be any time soon, not until I can get out of this bed and get down to the cave again.”

Zorii smiled. “That makes sense.”

Rey went on. “I don’t know your whole story, nor would I pretend like I’d be able to understand everything you’ve been through in one conversation. I do know a lot about complicated families though, being from one and having married into another-”

“Ha, no kidding!” Zorii laughed.

Rey smiled. She couldn’t help but love her bluntness. She figured that was probably what got her through the complicated childhood she was now having a hard time discussing. 

“The wisest thing anyone’s ever told me about families was something Ben said to me when he took me to see Naboo. He wanted me to see how beautiful the planet was before telling me that’s where my family was from, where my grandfather was from.”

“Holy shit… he took you there without telling you first?!”

“He did, and I’m glad he did. If he had told me I probably never would have gone there. It was the most beautiful planet I’ve ever seen. If I’d let my shame about my family cloud my experience, I’d have never been able to see the most beautiful landscape probably in the entire galaxy.”

Zorii sat in silence, taking in what she was saying. Rey hoped her words were having their intended effect.

“Once we were there, having a picnic surrounded by some extraordinary waterfalls, he told me. Of course he explained why he’d waited to tell me- so that I could see what a beautiful place it was without that knowledge ruining it. That’s the thing about families, we can’t change who and what they are, but we can choose to not let any one person ruin the bigger picture for us. Families aren’t any one person or even a handful of people, they’re thousands of generations that led up to our existence. Whoever you want to be in this life isn’t dependent on any one family member or even several of them. It’s about you and the choices you make, the person you want to be. If you don’t want marriage or a family that’s ok, but if you do want it, there’s no reason Zorii Bliss can’t be the best wife and mother this galaxy has ever seen.”

Rey noticed tears were glistening in Zoriis eyes. 

“Oh Zorii, I’m sorry if I’ve said to mu-“

“No, no, you just said it perfectly.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “It just- it feels like I’ve waited my whole life for someone to tell me that.”

Rey did her best to lean over and hug her friend. Zorii squeezed her back, grateful to have the kind of friend that she could have these conversations with. 

“That’s what we’re all here for.” Rey said as she pulled away. “Just about everyone on this island comes from a complicated background.”

“All of us except Poe. The irony that I would end up with the one with a perfect home life.”

Rey laughed. “And yet he still ran away from it all at one point didn’t he? Even those from supposedly perfect homes somehow find a reason to rebel.”

Zorii shook her head. “You really should have seen him back then, he was such a mixed up kid. Talented, arrogant, yet he didn’t have a single clue about who he was and where he should be. I guess that’s why I fell so hard for him. I was every bit as confused as he was, but something about his blind confidence and ability to charge headfirst into any situation made me think ‘Hey, if he can fake it this well, he’s gotta have something going for him.’ ”

Rey laughed. “You know… that made absolutely no sense and yet somehow that’s the most accurate description of Poe I’ve ever heard.”

*****

Ben and Finn sat taking a break in the plaza after finishing their sparring drills for the day. Having just finished a meeting with the capital, Poe came out of his hut and joined them. 

“How’d training go?” Poe asked as he sat to join them. 

“Great.” Ben replied. “Finn’s quite the fast learner.”

Finn smiled at the affirmation. “How’d your meetings go with the capital?” 

“Besides the hologram fading out every few minutes- it went well. Getting a clear signal out here is still challenging. Once we got a clear connection I just told them a bunch of stuff that was actually believable about what Rey’s been up to. They ate it up as usual.”

“What exactly have you been telling them?” Ben was almost afraid to ask. 

“Well, I’m pretty good at thinking on my feet. I just make it up as I go. Basically Rey’s got a ton of old books she’s studying and Commander Tico is her new star apprentice. The future of the Force is looking bright thanks to the capital’s support. They loved it.” 

Ben laughed. “From what I remember growing up around politicians, as long as you make it sound like everything you’ve accomplished is all thanks to them- they’re pretty happy.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Poe sighed. 

Ben remembered something he’d been meaning to ask about all day. “Speaking of my old hometown, is that stormtrooper helmet sculpture still up in the city circle?”

“Ugh… that old thing?!” Finn replied, “It gave me the creeps. We had it torn down.”

“Thank the gods.” Ben replied.

“You didn’t have any love for it either I take it?” Poe asked.

“Well, you know as a kid we all thought ‘Cool! Helmets taken off dead people! Now there’s flowers on them so it makes it all better!’ Having seen war from the other side though, it’s more than a little macabre.”

“No shit.” Finn agreed. “People have weird ways of trying to make sense of it all. As if anyone can properly understand it.”

Poe remembered the debate about getting it removed. “A few older folks had some nostalgia for it but no one put up much of a fuss. Most people were happy to see it replaced by the memorial to your family.”

Of course that’s what had gone there... Poe had mentioned it was in the center of town. Ben had done his best to forget about the fact that there was now a giant memorial to his family in the middle of his hometown. Growing up a Solo in Hanna city had been full of it’s own pressures, and now everyone he’d known there all thought he was dead. Something about it almost made him laugh. He finally found the curiosity to ask what he’d been avoiding 

“So what’s it like- the Skywalker memorial?”

“That’s right…” Poe answered. “We never told you about it. We polished up Red 5 and added it to it after we found you two. It’s got statues of all four of you and it’s the Skywalker-Solo memorial now. Now that there’s as many Solo’s as Skywalkers, and more if you count your mom, it only made sense to rename it.”

Ben smiled. “Dad would have loved that. The name Solo means nobody. It’s the name he was given by some immigrations officer when he didn’t have a last name. Now there’s a Solo memorial- a memorial to nobodies. He’d have loved that.”

“Really?” Poe was stunned one of the pilots he’d grown up idolizing had started out literally labeled a nobody. “Talk about moving up in the world.”

Ben thought about it for a moment. “We move up, we move down, we’re all just doing our best at the end of the day.” 

“Well said.” Finn agreed.

“I guess… it just goes to show you don’t need the Force to be a great pilot.” Poe said, side eyeing Ben.

Finn smiled and looked at Ben as well. He knew that last remark was part of their never ending rivalry. 

“Any time you want another rematch just say the word.” Ben said looking up at the sky.

Poe stood up looking towards the freighter. “Now seems like a good time.”

Ben smiled. “As good as any.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Momma's on bed rest about to pop and dad runs off to dogfight the first chance he gets. Typical. 😂
> 
> Notes on canon- That stormtrooper sculpture Ben saw as a kid in Hanna City was canon. The idea of that always creeped me out so I figured it was time for that to go. 
> 
> Hey I got some canon info from Solo included in the story! I think it’s my goal now to include something from all the movies before all is said and done. That should be a fun challenge. 
> 
> Hope you all are enjoying it as always! A big thank you to everyone who keeps following along and commenting to let me know you’re loving it! Your love for this story fuels the fire to keep the chapters coming! Can’t wait to see where the story takes us next... ❤️❤️❤️


	57. A Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben does his best in a rematch against Poe, but can't shake the feeling that there's somewhere else he needs to be.

Several caretakers in the plaza looked up and cheered as the familiar sound of Ben and Poe’x X-wings ripped through the skies over Ahch To. Flying over the island on a perfectly clear day was a welcome escape for both men, and yet Ben was surprised to find his thoughts beginning to wander. As much as he wanted to throw himself into another rematch with Poe, he couldn’t help but feel a pull from the Force… back to his home… back to Rey... back to their daughters who were very close to being born…

He was just nervous, he told himself as he tried to shake his anxiety. 

Nervous about how close they were to the thing they’d been waiting on for almost nine months…

Nervous about the thing they’d both dreamed about their whole lives that was finally about to happen...

He needed to make the most of his time flying since it might be the last chance he had to do so for a while...

…and yet he couldn’t. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the last place he needed to be was where he found himself.

At first Poe was thrilled to find he was out-flying Ben in nearly every way. As their time in the sky went on though he couldn’t help but think it felt a little too easy. As much as he wanted to believe he’d finally bested his friend and rival by a long shot, he sensed something was up.

“You’re not making this easy for me on purpose are you?” Poe joked over their flight radio.

“Oddly enough, no, not on purpose. Sorry man I’m just a little distracted.”

“Everything ok?”

“Yeah it’s fine. I think… I think instinct is getting the better of me being up here with Rey being stuck on bed rest.” 

“I hear that." Poe thought about it for a moment. "Look man, if you want to take a few laps around the chain of islands and head back that’s fine too. When I do beat you I want it to be with a level playing field.”

“Fair enough.” Ben laughed. “That sounds like a plan.”

The two pilots abandoned their dogfight and headed around the islands, taking the scenic route home. Ben did his best to take in the view of the ocean spreading out to the horizon as far as he could see. Something told him it would be the last time for a while he’d get to enjoy such a view. 

As soon as they landed on the freighter Ben couldn’t get back home to Rey fast enough. He leapt from the cockpit, ripped off his helmet and flight suit, and disappeared. Poe stared in confusion at the spot where Ben had disappeared from. As many times as he'd seen him do that, he still hand't been able to get used to it. 

“I guess he really didn’t want to see the scores this time.” He said to himself as he got both droids out of their planes. BB-8 and R2 beeped questionably up at Poe about why Ben had vanished so quickly.

Poe looked back toward the spot where Ben had disappeared from moments ago. “You know… he probably knows something we don’t. I wouldn’t be too surprised if we get to meet the next generation of Solo’s soon.”

R2 and BB8 screamed, rolling off in the direction of the exit to head down to Ben and Rey's hut.

*****

A few seconds later Ben was in their bedroom. Rey and Zorii looked up at him, stunned by how quickly he'd burst into the space unannounced.

“Is… everything ok sweetheart?” Rey asked.

“Yeah, I just uh, just wanted to come see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine…. I thought I heard you and Poe flying. What made you come back so quickly?” 

Zorii appeared stunned by his urgency as well. It was clear whatever had been nagging Ben had been of his own imaging. Seeing how very little his wife needed him he suddenly felt a bit ridiculous. 

“We um, we were flying but something kept bugging me like I needed to get back here. I figured I’d come check on you.”

Zorii and Rey looked at each other smiling, doing their best not to laugh. It was absolutely adorable how shaken Ben was over the thought that his wife couldn’t go for an hour or two without him on the island. 

“You have nothing to worry about.” Rey reassured him. “Zorii’s been taking excellent care of me today. Now that I have you here though… I could actually use a back rub. I’ve got this awful cramp in my lower back that won’t go away.”

“You sure that’s all it is?!” 

Rey stared back at her husband, shocked by how worked up she sensed he was. She wondered what could have possibly got into him. 

“I mean… I’m pretty sure that’s all it is. I have a different cramp in a different part of my body every day. This doesn’t feel any worse than those I’ve had before.”

Ben helped Rey get situated on their bed facing the windows so she could take in the view of the ocean while he rubbed her back. He kept trying to shake the anxiety that had taken a hold of him but it just wouldn’t go away. Zorii didn’t need the Force to see he was on edge as well. 

“I think I’ll leave you two to it.” Zorii said looking towards the door. “I’m sure Poe will be moping around after not getting a full dogfight in.” 

“Yeah, tell him I’m sorry I had to cut it short. I’ll make sure we get back up there soon.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be fine either way.” Zorii said smiling. 

“Will I get to see you tomorrow?" Rey asked as Zorii got up to leave.

"Of course! You know how much I love our lunch dates." She leaned down and hugged her friend. "Thanks for our talk today by the way, I really appreciate it." She whispered.

"Any time." Rey whispered back, hugging her friend extra tightly.

A few moments later as Zorii was leaving through their front door they heard “What are you two doing here?!”. BB-8 and R2 flew in past her, entering the home every bit as urgently as Ben had. 

The two droids rolled into the bedroom and over to the medical droids. They began activating them and a team of doctor and nurse droids suddenly sprung to life.

The lead droid introduced itself. “Hello! I’m VS-22: Human obstetrics and gynecology, and this is my team of delivery doctors and nurses. How may we assist you?”

“What do you two think you’re doing?!” Rey exclaimed looking back at R2 and BB-8. BB-8 rushed over to her bedside and wiggled excitedly as he let out a flurry of beeps. “Poe says the babies are coming?!” Rey turned back to look at Ben. “Why may I ask would Poe say such a thing?!”

“Well… I may have left the hanger in a bit of a rush.”

“Oh did you now?” Rey stared up at the ceiling. “So let me get this straight, Poe and the droids and soon everyone on this island are going to think I’m in labor?”

“Well, we don’t know for sure you’re not.”

“I think I would know before anyone else would.” She’d watched all the educational holograms on labor and delivery there was and felt confident she knew what to expect. She hadn’t felt anything that made her think today was different than any other day. “R2, put those droids back in low power mode. No need to wake up the whole crew before we need them.” R2 reluctantly did as she asked.

“How do we know for sure that’s not what this back ache is?”

“Ben, I’m telling you it’s-“ She paused for a moment, stretching and arching her back.

“What… what is it?”

“It’s nothing. Just keep pushing on that spot where I showed you.”

Ben did his best to hold his tongue as he kept massaging into the muscles on her lower back. If this was more than a backache the last thing she needed was a husband freaking out over every little thing. A few moments later they felt a presence enter the room.

“Mom!” Ben exclaimed, relieved to have her there. 

Leia smiled knowingly at them seeing Ben helping Rey relive some telltale lower back pain.

“How are you two today?” She asked.

“Everyone on the island seems to think I’m in labor, but other than that I’m fine.” Rey answered.

“Huh... whatever gave them that idea?” Leia did her best to remain nonchalant.

“I cut a dogfight with Poe short. I kept having a feeling I needed to get down here and may have disappeared little quickly as soon as we landed.”

Leia laughed. “MY son, easily excited? I can’t imagine such a thing.”

“Very funny.” Ben had to admit she had a point.

Leia sat on the bed next to Rey. “So how are you feeling today? Looks like your back is giving you some trouble?”

“There is this cramp I can’t seem to get to go away. Ben is helping out tremendously though.” Rey thought for a moment. It certainly didn’t hurt to ask the opinion of someone who’d been through labor before. “What did it feel like for you, when you went into labor with Ben? Were there any early signs that let you know what was up?”

“As I remember it did start out as a pain in my lower back that would radiate around my hips and belly every once in a while. That’s what I remember most.”

Rey bit her lip, thinking for a moment. Ben stared at her waiting to see what she’d say next. He’d sensed his mother’s words had rung a bell.

“You know, I might have one of the medical droids check me out, just in case. Better to know for sure it’s nothing.”

R2 squealed and excitedly reactivated all the droids. Ben jumped up and folded out the medical bed as quickly as he could. 

After examining Rey, VS-22 announced their verdict. “Rey your cervix has dilated one centimeter. You are in the earliest stages of labor. My team and I will prepare you and your home for laboring and delivery. The babies will be delivered in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

Rey’s jaw dropped. She stared up at Ben stunned as the news washed over both of them.

“We’re... going to have our babies?” She said, barely able to believe the moment was finally here.

“We’re going to have our babies...” He answered beaming. His eyes filled with tears as he wrapped her in his arms and held her tight. Tears rolled down Rey's cheeks as she clung to her husband, soaking up the moment with him. Everything they’d been through the past eight and a half months had led up to this- in the next day or so, they’d get to hold and look upon the beautiful children they’d always dreamed of having together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Solo twins are coming!!! Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!


	58. Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew of friends celebrate as they hear the news that the Solo twins are on their way. Ben does all he can to be there for his wife as she faces the biggest challenge of their life together.

BB-8 and R-2 flew up the hill to the other huts to tell everyone the exciting news.

“I had a feeling something was up.” Zorii said standing in her doorway looking down towards Ben and Rey’s hut. 

“What is it?” Poe asked joining her.

“Rey is in labor. Turns out that hunch you had about Ben running off was right.”

“I knew it.” Poe said, breaking out into the biggest smile. “Have you two told Finn and Rose yet?” he asked, looking down at the droids.

BB-8 beeped a response. 

“Well you better get to it. I’m sure they’ll want to know. 3P0 is over there too. I’m sure he’ll fall all to pieces. This will be the third generation of the same family you two have been with… that’s something”

R-2 beeped proudly, correcting him.

“Four?” Poe replied. “How’s that possible? I thought you two couldn’t remember your service before you served Leia?”

R-2 let out a series of beeps to explain Ben and Rey had seen the two of them with Ben’s grandparents in one of their recent visions together. 

“Wow… we learn something new every day with those two.” Zorii replied, referring to their friends. 

“That we do.” Poe looked back down at the droids. “Alright you two, roll on over to the Tico’s and tell them the news. Let Rose know if she’s up to it I’m heading down to build a fire in the fire pit. We can all have dinner down there together if she’s up for it. I’m sure Rey can use all the good vibes we’ve got to give her tonight.”

*****

“Oh thank the maker!” 3PO replied standing in the door of Finn and Rose’s hut. “Finn, Rose, excellent news!!! The Solo twins are on their way!!!”

“WHAAATT?!?!?!” Rose screamed from the couch. 

“Really?! That’s great!” Finn said excitedly as he joined 3PO at the door. “So everything’s going ok? How’s Rey doing?”

R2 replied and 3P0 translated. “He says she’s doing well. They will keep us updated as the evening goes on. The babies aren’t expected until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. Additionally, Poe and Zorii will be building a fire in the plaza tonight and have invited you two to join them for dinner.”

“Rose, are you up for going out tonight?” Finn turned back to ask.

“I’ll do my best! Aaaahhhhh I’m SO EXCITED!” She squealed. 

At that moment a caretaker was passing by the Tico’s hut and heard the commotion. She squawked at 3PO to ask what was happening. He replied in her language to let her know Rey was in labor and the Solo’s twin girls were on their way. 

As soon as 3PO answered the caretaker gasped in shock. She made sure to clarify he’d said twin girls. 3P0 replied affirming what he’d said. 

The caretaker’s eyes went wide and she turned and ran down to the plaza as quickly as she could. Finn and the three droids watched as she told the others who were finishing up for the day. The whole group gasped simultaneously at the news. They ran around gathering up their things as quickly as they could and rushed up the back steps towards their village.

“What do you think that was about?” Finn asked 3PO.

“I wouldn’t have the slightest idea, sir. I suppose the caretakers are as excited as we are about the happy news.” 

“Huh…” Finn replied, not sure what to think. “I guess we’ll see Poe and Zorii down at the fire pit in a bit.”

*****

The first few hours of labor had been fairly uneventful, almost too uneventful Rey thought to herself. Waiting on something as momentous as the pains of labor to begin felt a bit like a cruel joke. She much preferred having something to focus on, a challenge to overcome to pour her energy into, yet all she could do was sit and wait for what felt like forever for it to begin. 

The energy from her friends outside sharing dinner had been just the encouragement she needed to ease her anxiety during that waiting period. The warmth of their love spilling over from the impromptu celebration felt like a final “You’ve got this” from her community before she took on what would be the biggest challenge she’d ever faced. Somehow her friends always knew what she needed long before she ever knew she needed it.

After several hours her challenge arrived as the contractions began to come on harder. This was it, she thought to herself, time for her body to do everything in its power to bring their children into this world. 

Rey balanced herself on a birthing ball as she looked out over the ocean. The windows of their bedroom were wide open so she could feel the ocean breeze and hear the ebb and flow of the waves below. She focused on those natural rhythms to get herself through it each time one crept up. The nurse droids had placed sensors on her belly to monitor them, but she didn’t need a machine to tell her what she felt happening to her body in the Force before it happened. 

Rey felt her energy in her hips building again. She planted her hands on her knees and steadied herself on the ball as she prepared to ride through another one.

“Hmmmmmmm” She moaned into it as the tension in her core built. 

“You’ve got this sweetheart.” Ben said as he knelt behind her rubbing her back. His love and support was everything she needed in these moments. She wasn’t sure how she’d have made it through any of this without him, and knew it was only going to get harder as time went on. 

Rey leaned back into the strength of his touch and rocked her hips as she approached the crest of it, letting out another heavy moan. 

Ben looked back at the monitor to confirm what he already sensed. “That’s it sweetheart, you’re over the worst part of it. You’re doing great.”

A burst of ocean air came in, refreshing her energy and easing her tension as she came down from it. 

“Thank you sweetheart.” She said once it had passed. “That was a tough one.”

Just then the nurse droid AT-14 spoke up. “Would you like something for the pain to help you sleep tonight? You will need all the rest you can get before tomorrow.”

It was a welcome offer. “Yes, I think I’m at that point.”

The nurse droid returned a few moments later and added an analgesic to her IV. 

“You should start to feel some relief soon.” AT-14 informed her. “As soon as you are ready to try and lay down let us know and we will help you get comfortable.”

“Thank you AT.” Rey replied, looking back out over the ocean. “I think I’ll sit here on the ball a little longer.”

“As you wish ma’am.” The droid said, turning to rejoin the other medical droids in the living room. Rey thought for a moment how well these droids had been programed to understand the need for privacy during these moments. That level of social awareness wasn’t something she was used to from the most of the droids she’d known. 

Ben continued rubbing her back, totally in awe of his wife and the strength he’d witnessed from her over the past few hours. The energy of what her body was doing radiated out from her and into his hands with every touch. 

It was taking everything he had to keep walls up from the pain she was experiencing. He couldn’t help but be wracked with guilt for doing so, as necessary as it was. Rey didn’t have the option of putting up walls to stop feeling what was physically happening to her body and needed his support to get through it. The only way he could be present enough to do that was to stop himself from feeling what she was feeling. The last thing she needed was the first husband in history losing his mind over the pains of labor. 

Suddenly he remembered he wasn’t the first husband to be experiencing his wife giving birth this way. He remembered all the dyads they’d seen in their visions. Some of them had children of their own. They’d seen several children of dyads walking by Kaleth with their parents. Had most of them been twins? He tried to remember… The power of two…

As he worked out the tension in Rey's muscles he began to wonder how it had been back when bonded pairs in the Force were the norm. Had there been standard practices for preparing each other for the experience of birth? What knowledge of their bond had been lost to history when the great library burned? How he wished they could have lived during a time when what they shared together was more deeply understood... 

Of course they had lived during such a time at one point. Jeshan and Layna had been the guardians of all that lost knowledge he now yearned for, and yet as they’d seen them they’d never had children of their own. He wondered why for a moment, then remembered how young they’d been. They’d appeared to be in their mid to late 20s if he’d had to guess. It would have made sense they’d have focused on their careers as scholars first, and possibly planned to have a family later... 

“Wow…” He said to himself as the realization hit him. 

“What is it sweetie?” Rey asked looking back.

Ben paused for a moment as a thousand thoughts flooded his mind. 

They hadn’t just waited nine months for this… 

They hadn’t just waited the twenty years they’d been a bonded pair in this lifetime for this... 

Being together in renewed forms of their much older selves- they’d waited thousands of years for this moment. 

“I just realized something.” He said finally speaking up.

“What’s that?”

“The things we heard, when we were on the other side, about coming together and being together, achieving our destiny and all that. I think we might be doing part of that right now.”

“Really? How so?”

“I’ve just been thinking about Jeshan and Layna. They were so young when we saw them. They had their whole lives ahead of them. They’d just got to be where they wanted to be on their paths as Force users, but hadn’t had time to start a family together. They never got the chance to do that before they were taken from each other. Now, in these forms in this lifetime, we’re finally able to do that.”

Tears welled up in Rey’s eyes as Ben's words sank in. “Oh honey, that’s… wow…” She stared out over the ocean and rubbed her belly as the depth of his realization washed over her. 

Ben scooted forward and gently set his chin on her shoulder, doing his best to be close to her but not restricting her or leaning on her in any way. He wanted so much to hold her in this moment, but knew that with all her body was going through, the weight or pressure of an embrace was the last thing she needed. 

“This is just as much a part of our destiny as anything else.” He whispered, feeling the warmth of her cheek against his. “Having a family together, we’re finishing what we started thousands of years ago.” 

“Not just that…” Rey replied. “Everything you ever heard about finishing what your grandfather started, this is the real meaning of all that. We’re actually finishing what we started in so many of our previous lifetimes. Anakin and Padme never got to have this. Who knows how many of our previous selves never got to have this? We’re finishing what all of those former versions of ourselves dreamed of having but never got to have.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could think of something wise to say here but I'm too busy crying. Bless these two. They're gonna be the best parents. ❤️


	59. The Power of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Solo's welcome Hana and Ilaria into the world. Their friends soon join them as they celebrate their daughter's arrival. Ben and Rey are surprised by how excited others on the island are for the new arrivals as well...

Light from the morning’s twin sunrises streamed in through the bedroom window as a nurse droid came around and placed Rey’s first daughter on her chest.

“Hana!” She said between tears, knowing her daughter’s name as soon as she looked into her eyes. 

Hana looked up at her mother with the kind of confusion that can only come from just being born. Cries flew from her tiny mouth as she tried to understand why she’d just been pulled away from the comfort and warmth of the only world she’d ever known.

“It’s alright sweetheart, mommy’s right here for you.” Rey said, holding her daughter close and snuggling her into her chest. 

“Take a moment to relax.” The VS-22 informed her. “Soon contractions to deliver the second twin will begin. I will let you know when it’s time to begin pushing again.”

The thought of birthing another baby was too much to process for the moment. Pushing one baby out had taken nearly everything she had. Rey melted back into her birthing bed as Ben’s tearful smile beamed down at her. He kissed his wife on the forehead and stared in wonder at their newborn daughter. 

“She has your hair.” Rey said, admiring the thick dark locks that covered her tiny head. 

“She does.” Ben agreed wiping tears from his cheeks. The sight of Rey holding their daughter was the single most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and they still had one more they hadn’t met yet. 

“Alright, it’s about time to start pushing again.” VS-22 spoke up a few moments later. “Sir would you like to hold your daughter while the second is born or would you like to hold your wife’s leg again?”

“Uh…” Ben had no idea how to answer that. He wanted to be there for both his girls in that moment. 

“Hold Hanna.” Rey reassured him. “The nurse droids can help me. I’ve got this.”

“You’re sure?”

“Just stand here with me. I want both you and Hanna right here as her sister is born.”

“Of course. We’re right here sweetheart.”

After 36 hours of labor Rey was more than grateful she’d taken the anesthesia when she did. The lack of feeling from her waist down was a welcome reality as she faced pushing a second baby out of her body. Vs-22 let her know it was time to start pushing again and two nurse droids lifted her legs to help get her into position. 

“I’m right here sweetheart.” Ben said squeezing her hand. “We both are.” Hana’s eyes peaked out from her blanket as Ben held her tiny bundle in one arm. The sight was all Rey needed to go on. 

Rey poured everything she had into giving birth a second time. She wasn’t sure where she found the energy. She’d felt thoroughly depleted after delivering Hana, but somehow she had just enough strength to push and bring yet another life into the world. 

“Ilaria!” She gasped as her second daughter was placed on her chest. Just like her sister, cries erupted from her tiny body as she protested the shock of whatever had just happened to her.

“It’s ok sweetheart, I’ve got you.” Rey reassured her between tears of her own. “We’re going to do all we can to get through this life together.”

Ben unwrapped Hana and laid her down with her sister on their mother’s chest. The twins curled into each other just as they had in the womb. Feeling each other’s presence again was enough to settle both of them into a deep calm as they soaked up the warmth of their mother’s chest. Two equally dark, fuzzy heads snuggled into each other as they found their safe place together.

Ben and Rey were speechless for a few moments as they stared at the miracle of life that was their two daughters. 

“I- I can’t believe my body made two of them.” Was all Rey could think to say. Her mind and body were exhausted beyond anything she could have ever imagined. She could barely wrap her head around the wonder her eyes were seeing.

“I’m so, so proud of you.” Ben said kissing her forehead again. “Everything you just did was... so incredible...” 

The twins looked up together for a moment, recognizing the deep voice that came from their father.

“They already know you.” Rey said, her heart full of love for her family.

“They do…” Ben said, astonished by their recognition. Even though they’d reacted to his presence from inside the womb, seeing it happen right before his eyes was a wonder all it’s own. All the memories of times he’d talked to his daughter’s in Rey’s belly over the past several months came flooding back. They really had been listening to him the whole time. 

The realization of the connection his daughters already had to him was more than Ben could handle. The happiest of tears streamed down his cheeks as cried with joy. 

“Oh sweetheart…” Rey said as she turned to kiss him. There were no words for what the two of them were feeling in this moment. After everything they’d been through, after everything they’d fought against that had kept them apart, they were finally together with their family, surrounded by the warmth and love of the belonging they’d always dreamed about. 

*****

By midday Rey and Ben lay comfortably with their twins between them in their family bed. The nurse droids were doing all they could to keep Rey comfortable as she recovered from birth. Holograms of on call lactation consultants were available to her any time she needed help. Luckily very few people in the galaxy actually knew what she looked like, so to them she was just another new mother in need of their wisdom. With two babies, Rey realized right away she’d need all the help she could get with learning how to feed them. 

“Do you think we should let the others know they’re here? Let them know they can come see them?” Rey asked Ben. The first few hours together as a family of four had been heavenly, but Rey knew her friends would be anxious to see them.

“You’re sure you don’t want to try and get a nap first? You haven’t got much sleep in the past day or two.”

Rey looked down at her daughters sleeping peacefully. “I couldn’t possibly, not just yet. I’m still high on the adrenaline of their arrival. I’ll probably crash later this afternoon though. We might as well see folks while I’m still up for it.”

“That makes sense.” Ben replied. “Just want to make sure you don’t overdo it.”

“I promise I won’t.” Rey replied. “Alright BB-8, R2, head on up and tell the others the babies are here and they can come see them.”

The two droids squealed as they went off to fetch the rest of the crew. 

Soon their home was filled with the excitement of their five friends arriving to meet the newest additions to the Solo family. D-O rolled in with BB-8, R2, and 3PO as they came in behind their human companions. 

“Now where have you been hiding all this time?!” Rey asked the little droid.

“S-Sorry” Was all he could mutter.

Zorii laughed. “He hid out on the freighter for the first month or two when we got here. He takes a while to get used to new places. Lately he’s been going out when BB-8 will take him. I think this morning’s excitement was enough encouragement for him to get out with the crew though.”

Rey smiled. She was glad to see the little droid finally gaining confidence around his new friends.

Zorii and Rose got settled in on either side of Rey as she handed them each a baby to hold. Both women marveled at the tiny bundles they cradled in their arms.

“Oh Rey, they’re absolutely beautiful!” Rose gushed as she held Ilaria. “Two babies momma, what a feat! You must be exhausted!” 

“I honestly didn’t know the true meaning of the word till just now.” Rey replied, settling back into her mountain of pillows. 

Rey looked to her right as she suddenly sensed strong emotion coming from Zorii. Zorii was totally in awe as she gazed down at Hana. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever held a baby this small. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around how a human being could be so tiny. Every little feature was just perfect and miraculous in it’s own way. Two tiny eyes looked up at her with the awe and curiosity of a soul that knew nothing of the world and couldn’t wait to discover its wonders. She’d never seen anything so incredible. 

Zorii felt Rey put an arm around her as her friend sensed all she was feeling. No words were needed in that moment as Rey held her friend. Rey had sensed Zoriis conflict melting away, and the peace had taken hold in is place. Holding Rey and Ben's newborn daughter, Zorii knew exactly the kind of life she wanted to live. It was the path the already found herself on- one that very much included Poe. 

“If that isn’t a beautiful sight.” Poe said to his friends as they stood in the living area, watching the three women huddled together with Rey’s newborn twins. “Finn it won’t be long before you two have a little one of your own to enjoy.”

“I can’t wait.” Finn said beaming. “So what’s it like?” He asked Ben. “Being parents?”

Ben sighed with contentment. “Well, it’s only been a few hours, but as far I can tell it’s just about the most amazing thing there is.”

“Did you two get all the food put away from them?” Rose asked from the bed.

“Yes sweetheart, everything’s all good.” Finn replied. 

Rose turned to Rey. “I wanted to make sure you two had all you need for the next few days. We’ll be by to check on you but if there’s anything else you need just let us know.”

“You’re the absolute best.” Rey said hugging her friend. 

“So are you four going keep acting like strangers or will you be joining us?” Zorii called out to the four of them. “There’s plenty of room for all of us in here. Babies don’t bite as far as I can tell.” 

“Guess we better go join them.” Poe said with a laugh. He better than to not listen when Zorii called. 

Soon three men and a Wookie all sat around the bed together. Zorii and Rose passed off the babies so they could each get a look at them. 

“Raagggghhh, raa wraa rargh.” Chewbacca muttered, letting Ben know they looked exactly like he did the day he was born. 

“I don’t know, I think I see a little bit of momma in there too.” Ben noted. 

“Braaggghh” Chewie replied. 

“Well, yes- the hair is unmistakable.” Ben agreed.

“So what do you think Finn, are you ready for one of these?” Rey asked. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”

“Thankfully we’ve got several months to learn from you two before it’s our turn.” Rose said. “With two babies to go around I’m sure we’ll all get lots of practice.”

“Listen, anytime you feel the need for practice come right on over. I’m sure I’ll need all the help I can get.” Rey replied. 

“That’s what we’re here for.” Rose said smiling at her friend. 

Just then Ilaria woke up and began rooting around, hungry for her momma.

“That’s me then.” Rey said reaching for her daughter. She suddenly felt a little awkward. She hadn’t exactly mastered feeding yet and was afraid to do so in front of her friends. 

Rose knew right away what her hesitation was about. She spoke with authority as if to let the group know what she said was not up for debate. “You go ahead and feed your baby girl, Rey. If you need help getting comfortable let me know but otherwise don’t you worry about us. Feeding a baby is a natural part of life. There’s no reason a baby eating should be any more unusual than adults eating in front of each other.”

The look in Rey’s eyes let Rose know just how much she’d needed to hear that. 

Rose and Zorii helped Rey get comfortable as she got ready to feed her daughter. Within a few minutes the group of friends were back lost in conversation as Ilaria happily fed at her mother’s breast. 

Poe suddenly remembered something he’d been meaning to ask about and turned to Finn. “Hey, did you notice none of the caretakers came up to the village today?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right...” Finn replied. “I wonder if it has something to do with their excitement the other day.”

“What excitement?”

Finn explained what he’d seen. “One of them heard us talking outside of our hut about the babies coming and asked 3PO what was going on. He told them the babies were on their way and that got them all excited for some reason. They all ran of back to their village immediately like it was an emergency.”

“Any idea what they were up to?”

“No idea.”

Poe thought about it for a moment. “Never a dull moment on this island huh?” 

“Not one.” Finn agreed.

A few moments later Rey reached out to Ben through their bond after noticing he’d gone quiet for a bit. 

_What is it sweetheart? ___

_It’s nothing. I was just… taking in the moment. ___

_You’re sure everything’s ok? ___

_That’s just it. Everything is perfect. I’ve been sitting here looking at you, our daughters, all of our friends- all of us together celebrating the happiest day of our lives. This is the kind of life I never thought I’d be able to have. It just struck me for a moment, how beautiful it all was. ___

Rey’s heart soared for her husband as she realized what he was saying. She too was struck with a realization she hadn’t expected- it was becoming harder and harder for her to remember a time when Ben hadn’t been part of their group. That part of their lives felt like so long ago, in another lifetime, in another world. She much preferred it that way, and looked forward to that part of their lives becoming nothing more than increasingly distant memories. 

*****

The next morning Ben and Rey lay in bed as their twins slept soundly in between the two of them. By some miracle both had slept through their first night. The nurse droids had mentioned they might do so after the exhaustion of birth, and not to get too used to it. Either way Rey was grateful to have had a somewhat full night of sleep. 

The purple haze of daylight began streaming into the room as the first of the suns peaked over the horizon. Hana looked up and became fussy at the surprise of the morning light. Rey brought her daughter over to her breast and laid with her arm under her head as she fed. Their calm was soon interrupted by a knock at their front door. 

“Hey AT” Ben called for the nurse droid, half asleep. “Will you go see who that is?”

AT returned a few moments later. “C-3PO is here to see you. He asks if he can come in.”

“3PO?” Ben asked, rubbing his eyes awake. “What could he possibly want?”

“This should be interesting.” Rey smiled, as she lay fixed in place with Hana. “You can let him in AT.” Rey replied to the nurse droid.

A few moments later 3PO made his way into the room.

“Good morning 3PO.” Ben said, a little irritated by the early intrusion. 

“Good morning sir! First I would like to again say congratulations to you both on the blessed arrival of your beautiful daughters. I’m so very sorry to disturb you both so early, normally I would never intrude in such a way-“

“3PO, what is it?” Ben asked, making sure he got to the point.

“Well, you see sir, it’s the caretakers.”

“It’s what?”

“The caretakers of the village, sir. They’re all outside. They, well, I think you should come and see first.”

Ben sighed, turning to Rey “Are you ok if I go out there for a moment?”

Rey smiled up at him as Hana continued feeding. “We’ll be fine.” She replied.

“I’ll be right back.” Ben said, getting to his feet.

He headed out to the front of the hut check on whatever 3PO had been going on about. He was shocked to find all the caretakers of the village gathered in front of their home. They each had their arms full of baskets of food, stacks of diapers and blankets they’d sewn, flowers, and what appeared to be a whole host of gifts for the two of them.

“What’s all this?” He asked 3PO, stunned by what he was seeing.

“Sir, according to the caretakers, their religion contains a prophecy about the first human babies that will be born on Ahch To. Though many generations of Jedi have come here to live and study they have all been monastic. There have never been any human children born on the island. According to their prophecy, twin girls will be the first human infants born on Ahch To. It is said they will be born to a pair of immortals or gods who will be the ones to balance the Force.”

“Wait WHAT?!” Ben exclaimed. 

3PO asked a fish woman to clarify. After conversing with her a bit more he answered. “Yes, she says the prophecy states two immortals or gods-“ 

“Which is it?” Be interrupted him, hoping for clarification.

“My apologies sir, the translation of this particular word is a bit tricky. I’m still learning the nuances of their language and there doesn’t appear to be a direct translation. Two supernatural beings, if you will.”

Supernatural certainly rung a bell. “Ok, go on.” 

“The two beings will come to the island with a group of human companions. They will be the first humans on the island to raise families together. The first human children born on the island will be twin girls. They will be born to those who will be the one’s to balance the Force. As they heard your daughters were being born yesterday, they believe the prophecy has been fulfilled. It appears, sir, that they believe you and Rey are a type of god.”

Ben stared out of the group of caretakers as each one got down on one knee and bowed to him. It certainly wasn’t what he’d expected to wake up to his first morning as a father. 

Ben looked to 3PO “So… what do they want me to do?”

“Well, sir, I believe they want to give you the gifts they’ve brought to celebrate the arrival of your daughters. I believe they want to help take care of all four of you, serve you if you will.”

Ben didn’t know what to think. In addition to the nurse droids checking on Rey as she recovered he knew their tiny home would be more than a little cramped if he let all the caretakers in. He figured he’d better check with Rey first.

“They what?!” Rey asked, stunned as Ben explained what he’d just been told. 

“They think we’re immortals or gods, something like that. 3PO had a hard time translating it. Apparently there’s a prophecy about supernatural beings that have twin daughters on Ahch To.”

Rey was speechless for a moment, realizing they’d stumbled upon yet another prophecy that applied to them. This time it was from the last source they’d expected to hear such a thing from. She sat up as Hana drifted off to sleep with a full belly. “What do they want from us? I’m not really in a state to accept visitors at the moment.”

“That’s just it, I don’t think there here as visitors. I think they’re here to help take care of us, to take care of you and the babies. They brought food and diapers and blankets, wait till you see all of it.”

Rey thought it over for a moment. “I suppose a little extra help can’t be a bad thing. I guess you can let a few of them in.”

Ben went back outside and told 3PO a few of them could come in at a time. As soon as 3PO said the words the whole group pushed past Ben and 3PO and began entering their home. 

“I said only a few at a time!” Ben stared helplessly as the caretakers flooded their home. 

“I explained that to them, sir. It doesn’t appear they’ve listened to my instructions.”

“Rey’s going to kill me.” Ben said to himself, doing his best to push past them to get back to Rey in their bedroom. 

As he got back into their bedroom several caretakers were already gathered around her, fluffing her pillows, setting out breakfast on her bedside table, stacking up sheets and blankets next to the bed for when she needed them. One brought out some lotions and began rubbing Rey’s feet. Another began brushing her hair for her. Another brought over a towel and began washing her face. Ben looked around to see all they were doing in the space. Several of them began setting out food in the kitchen for the rest of the day. Some had brought brooms and other cleaning items and began tidying up. They were doing all they could to attend to Rey’s every need and make their home a cozier place for their new family. 

Ben breathed a sign of relief as he saw Rey break into a smile. 

“Well, this is a welcome surprise.” Rey said, marveling at all the caretakers were doing for them. 

“I guess being treated like gods isn’t such a bad thing...” Ben said. He suddenly felt one of them pushing him forward from behind.

“What?!” He said looking down at her. The stout fish woman squawked a flurry of instructions up at him. 

“3PO?!” Ben looked back at the droid for help.

“I believe she’s telling you to go back and take care of your wife and daughters, sir.”

Ben laughed. “Fine, fine if you insist.” He crawled back in bed with Rey and settled in as they had been before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey if you ask me all moms deserve to get treated like gods after giving birth. 😂
> 
> Congratulations Ben and Rey on your beautiful daughters! ❤️
> 
> Photocredit- Bestpikr


	60. Belonging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey struggles with the challenge of feeding two newborns. With Ben's help, they remember together what a blessed time in their lives this is.

Ben and Rey had made it to their fourth night together as parents. Even with all of the special treatment they’d been receiving from the locals during the day, parenting newborn twins around the clock was more of a challenge than either of them could have ever anticipated. After an hour or two of sleep, Rey was awoken again by the familiar sound of both babies crying out in hunger at the same time.

“Damnit” She thought to herself, realizing it was time to attempt tandem feeding again. Nursing one baby alone was enough of a challenge, but when two newborns were chomping and squirming around on her breasts it was nearly impossible to get both into position and feeding well. 

She’d tried using the Force to levitate them as much as she could, but the Force couldn’t make two tiny newborn mouths latch properly. If anything having her concentration in the Force just took her attention away from making sure they had fully latched. The Force wasn’t going to be able to help her figure this one out, this was a challenge she’d have to figure out on her own. 

Rey did her best to prop up her tired body into a position to feed them both. The stabbing pain of sore nipples overwhelmed her as their tiny mouths did their best to latch on. When one would get close, the other would slip out of position and cry, taking her attention away from the one that had nearly got it. Once she focused on that one, the other would slip and the cycle would repeat itself. 

After a few minutes of trying and failing to get both feeding well at the same time, she felt herself breaking down. She didn’t have the energy left to hold back the tears that had begun falling down her cheeks. Two tiny lives needed her for nourishment, and yet she couldn’t make her body and theirs connect like she needed them too. The longer it took to get them into position, the harder they cried. It all became too much as she watched her own tears falling onto their heads and disappearing among their dark curls. 

“I’m sorry girls...” She cried, “I’m so sorry... I- I don’t know why this is so hard...” She continued struggling as more tears fell. 

“Sweetheart... what’s wrong?!” Ben asked as he woke up to the sound of all three of his girls crying. 

“It’s no use!” Rey chocked out between cries. “I’m exhausted and they’re both hungry and I can’t get them both to latch at the same time. My nipples are so sore from feeding them non stop, it just… I can’t… everything hurts so much!” Tears streamed down her face as her heart began to hurt as much as her physical body, which was still recovering from birth. She’d dreamed for months of the kind of mother she’d be to her daughters. All of that felt like it was collapsing around her as she failed to do the one thing her body was supposed to have been made to do.

“Honey, honey, it’s ok… it’s gonna be ok… we’ll figure this out together....” Ben tried to reassure her as took her face in his hands and kissed her to let her know he was there for her in this moment. The desperation in her eyes as she looked back up at him let him know just how much she needed his help. 

“Hold on a second…” He said as he piled up pillows against the wall. “You sit in front of me and we’ll hold them together. You can get comfortable with Hana and I’ll hold Ilaria until you’re ready to add her.”

Rey did her best to catch her breath and got herself situated in front of Ben, handing Ilaria back to him who wasn’t quite as worked up as Hana. 

Ben held Ilaria on his shoulder and rubbed her back to soothe her. “Ssshhhhhh it’s ok little one.” He whispered, “Momma’s getting your sister comfortable and then it will be your turn.”

Rey’s eyes cleared as she did her best to get Hana latched on to her left breast. After a minute or two she had her propped up on her side, feeding blissfully. Hana gazed up contently at her mother, letting her know how grateful she was for the delicious meal. 

Rey breathed a sigh of relief at having been able to get one baby where she needed to be. “Ok, I think I’m ready for Ilaria.”

Ben helped her hold Hana steady with his left arm around her while passing Ilaria around on the right. The way he was able to hold a baby with one arm was all the help she needed while getting two babies situated feeding. Before she knew it she had Ilaria latched onto her right breast, both babies being supported by her arms and Ben’s arms around her as they fed. 

Ben felt Rey’s stress and anxiety begin to slowly drain from her as both babies fed happily. Even with this small victory, part of her still felt depleted and undone. Her energy was the lowest he’d ever felt. The exhaustion of the past few days had more than taken a toll. 

He put his chin on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. “You’re doing amazing sweetheart. These past few days have been so tough, it makes sense to get frustrated sometimes. Nothing is ever easy the first time you try it.” He tried to think of an example of skills that took time to master. His tired mind could only come up with one. “Think about the first time you used a lightsaber compared to what you’re able to do with one now.” 

“The first time I used a lightsaber I beat you.” He felt her crack a smile.

“Fair enough.” He tried not to laugh. “Bad example... you know what I mean. This is new for all three of you. You’re learning how to do this together. It just takes time. Before you know it, feeding them will be as natural as breathing. Until then you’ve got me to help you.” 

Rey realized she’d never have been able to do any of this without Ben’s help. It was yet another reason among millions she had to be grateful to the Force for bringing him back to her. 

She watched in wonder as both babies continued feeding, filing their bellies with the perfect nourishment her body was able to provide for them. Her breasts had been so heavy and sore from her milk coming in that day, and the relief of them emptying was everything she needed. Tears began falling down her cheeks again, but this time they were happy tears. 

Rey finally felt relaxed enough to lean back against Ben as their babies fed. Ben watched in amazement at the miracle of life taking place right in front of him. Rey feeding their children with her body was the most incredible thing he’s ever seen. Holding her while she fed them felt like they were all one- a family unit growing from each other as their life forces sustained and supported each other. 

After a few minutes Ben felt Rey’s breathing had slowed and looked down to noticed she’d fallen asleep on him. He sat holding her and his daughters until both babies got their fill and drifted off to sleep on their mother’s breast. Watching his three girls sleeping together in his arms was the most peaceful and content he’d ever felt. To think how far he’d come from the terrible, empty life he’d once known to this moment was truly a miracle. 

Watching Rey’s chest rise and fall as their daughters snuggled into her, the rest of the world seemed to melt away. It felt as if Ben didn’t need anything other than what he had right here. For a moment he thought he’d be just fine if they never figured out all the Force was trying to show them, whatever grand destiny it had planned for them. What he held in his arms was the greatest destiny he could have ever dreamed of. As exhausted as he was, he wanted to sit and savor this feeling as long as he could.

Eventually he felt his heavy eyelids closing as he teetered close to falling sleep. For safety’s sake he realized it was time to wake up Rey and get the baby’s back into a safe sleeping position. 

“Rey” He whispered in her ear. “I think the girls are all good.”

Rey jumped awake as she realized she’d fallen asleep. “Oh I’m sorry honey I didn’t mean to fall asleep.“ 

“Don’t be.” Ben reassured her. “Watching the three of you sleeping on me just now is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” 

Rey leaned back into him for a moment; soaking up the love she felt radiating from him for his family. “What would I ever do without you?” She asked. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Ben replied.

Somewhere in the midst of the exhaustion and tears that consumed their life as new parents, they found the belonging they’d both dreamed of their whole lives. It was right here, on the same spot where they’d once touched hands in a little stone hut on the edge of the galaxy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The image of the four of them curled up together while Ben looks over his three girls sleeping might be something I need to commission in fan art. This was one of my favorite chapters I've written in a while. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. ❤️


	61. New Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After settling into the fast pace of motherhood, Rey finds herself ready to get back to all they'd been working on in the Force. Thanks to Finn's remarkable progress in his training, he's ready to join Ben and Rey as they tackle a new challenge.

The first several months of motherhood flew by at light speed for Rey. The days were long and challenging but the weeks and months seemed to slip away faster and faster as the twins grew. Between loss of sleep and constantly re-adjusting to whatever new developmental phase the babies were in, there never seemed to be enough time to slow down and find a sustainable rhythm. 

Not that Rey minded of course. Most of her life had been spent in an all too predictable routine of scavenging through dusty relics of the past and waiting for something that would never come. She much preferred living a life of her own determining, where each day was a challenge to fit in all she wanted to do, rather than yet another interval of time to remind herself how empty her lonely existence was.

This particular morning as she sat on the couch watching the girls crawl around, she had to ask R2 what date it was. When he replied she realized they’d been out in the world as long as they’d been in her belly. She smiled to herself as she remembered a time when she’d meticulously carved every day of her life into a metal wall…. Now she needed a droid just to remind herself of what month it was. 

Like clockwork, both twins crawled over to her and looked up with eager eyes letting her know they were both hungry.

“Always have to do everything together don’t we?” She said smiling. The older they got, the more she loved watching their bond grow. 

Rey situated both girls to feed in her lap and went back to looking over the pages she’d brought out to attempt to study. The lack of progress in their studies of the ancient texts over the past several months was another part of motherhood she’d never expected. It was astonishing just how much time two tiny humans could take up in a day. Feeding two babies did mean for a lot of time sitting, but the kind of focus one needed to study ancient writing wasn’t possible while one’s body was being drained of nutrients- especially by two hungry mouths. 

After both girls got comfortable Rey did her best to get back to reading. 

She scoured the symbols on the page as she tried to determine where she had she left off… it was no use. The cryptic nature of the texts meant remembering ones place was as much of a challenge as reading them. She figured she might as well start back at the top. 

“Hey, I remember when you thought that was hard.” Ben said as he came in from the kitchen with breakfast. The sight of Rey feeding both babies while shuffling through copies of ancient texts was his favorite way to start the day. 

“I did have the best assistant ever to help me figure it out.” Rey replied, beaming. “So what’s on your agenda for the day?”

“Training with Finn as usual. Actually I wanted to talk to you about that. Is there a time this week you think you can tear yourself away from the kiddos to take a day trip down to the cave with us?”

The thought thrilled Rey. She’d been anxious to get back down there for a while. “I’m sure I could. I’ll check with Zorii and see which day she’d like to watch the girls with Rose and Owan. I’m sure they’ll be fine with the three of them, especially if I send AT up there.” 

“Just so long as there’s always a human with them.” Ben said firmly.

“Of course.” Rey reassured him. Another surprise of motherhood had been Ben’s insistence that the girls never be left alone with nurse droids. He had an unshakeable phobia that something might go wrong. ‘Any machine can fail at any time’ he’d always say. Rey didn’t understand it, but as insistent as he was she didn’t question it. She knew well enough by now that instincts that strong were something to be trusted, especially when it came to their instincts as parents.

“So you think Finn’s ready for that?” She asked, unsure if throwing their only padawan into a dark side vergence this soon was a good idea.

“Absolutely!” Ben replied enthusiastically. “You’ll be amazed to see how far he’s come over the past few months. As he started awakening his power in the Force I sensed he was talented but I never expected he’d fly through things so quickly. I checked with Luke he confirmed his progress is unusually fast.”

“That’s wonderful…” Rey said, both proud of her friend and realizing how much they could use his skills. Having another strong Force user with them as they took on all the challenges that lay ahead would be a huge help to them both.

*****

A few days later Ben packed a bag for their first trip down to the cave in months. What little their studies had covered since the twins arrival had helped them discover how Luke’s compass and his sextant were both tools that could be used to navigate the World Between Worlds. He and Rey hadn’t used either of them yet, but figured it was time to test them out. With Finn at their side they were ready to step into their first attempt to navigate a realm that was as mysterious as the Force itself. 

Finn and Rey came in through door together. Rey had just dropped the twins with Rose and Zorii and was ready for her first day of freedom.

“How’s little Owan this morning?” Ben asked Finn as he came into the kitchen.

“His new teeth are still driving him nuts.” Finn replied. “Poor little guy...” 

“Sleep’s not coming easy then either I take it?” Ben knew that struggle well.

“Whew, that’s the truth. A teething baby is like having a newborn again sometimes. I’ve got no idea how you two handle it with two.”

“Lots of patience, and coffee.” Ben said handing him a cup.

“So the capital still feels like sending us the good stuff?” Finn smiled, thankful for the boost.

Ben laughed. “As long as Poe’s reports keep telling them everything they want to hear.”

“So- coffees in hand, bag packed, looks like we’re ready to go!” Rey couldn’t wait to get out for a day of adventure. 

“Let’s do this.” Finn said excitedly. He couldn’t wait to dive into the mysterious realm Rey and Ben had told him about.

*****

Ben, Rey, and Finn pulled themselves up onto the dark shore of the cave’s interior. 

“No back entrance then?” Finn said as he squeezed water out of his wet clothes. 

“Unfortunately no.” Rey replied as she squeezed her hair out. She looked back up towards the ceiling entrance they’d all just dove through. The bag of tools floated down through it as Ben brought to them on the shore. They’d made sure to leave up top it until they could levitate it down to them so the ancient tools didn’t get wet.

Rey turned around as the mirror portal materialized in front of them. 

“That’s us.” She said nodding towards it. Finn stared in awe at the sight. He’d never stood in front of anything that felt so powerful, except maybe Ben and Rey. This wasn’t a power that radiated from living beings though. This was the very power that held the universe together, the kind of power that controlled space and time. Something about it did remind him of Ben and Rey, but he couldn’t be sure what. Whatever awaited him on the other side of that portal, he knew his life would never be the same once he experienced it. 

Ben and Rey dug through the bag as they got their tools out, ready to try and navigate a world they’d only visited a handful of times. Rey was proud of the sense of calm she felt in Finn as he marveled at the portal. All of this was totally new and he was handling it like a seasoned pro. 

Finn’s calm was interrupted as the tools in his friends held were ripped away from them by the Force. Ben and Rey watched helplessly as the compass and sextant flew back up out of the entrance of the cave. 

“What the hell?” Finn muttered, wondering what could have just happened.

Ben and Rey looked at each other. Rey sighed realizing the Force wasn’t yet ready for them to navigate through things on their own. 

“I guess the Force has other plans for us three today.” Ben said, looking back towards the portal. Now all they could do was sit and wait to see what the World Between Worlds had decided it needed to show the three of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their first cave vision with their new padawan... This should be fun.


	62. Family Resemblance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cave shows Ben, Rey, and Finn one of Ben and Rey's previous lives together. Finn is shocked to realize why the Force waited for him to show his friends this part of their past.

Rey and Ben stepped forward together in unison and touched the mirrored surface of the portal. Just like their first time together in the cave, a thousand identical versions of themselves stretched out in front of them 

Finn looked back and jumped to the side as a seemingly infinite line of unrecognizable couples stretched out behind Rey and Ben. 

“You guys are seeing this, right?!” Finn asked.

Rey looked back at the line of faces, unfazed by the familiar sight. “This again…” She said, wondering what part of their past the Force was about to show them. 

“This isn’t new?” Finn asked.

“These are our past selves, lives we lived together before this one.” Rey explained. “The cave showed them to us the first time we came in here together.”

“So you know who all of these people are?” Finn asked, staring back at the people lined up behind his friends. The countless pairs stretched back into the shadows as far as he could see.

“We know these two.” Rey said, nodding at the couple immediately behind them. “Padme and Anakin, we’ve learned plenty about them. We’ve also learned about the very first two, Jeshan and Layna. They’re so far back in the lineup you can’t see them from here. Other than that, we haven’t learned anything about the oth-“ 

The Force interrupted Rey as it gave her and Ben the chance to learn about another lifetime they’d shared. Just as before they were pulled backwards and flew through several of their previous lifetimes. Instead of going all the way back to Jeshan and Layna, they stopped somewhere in the middle of the lineup. They found themselves standing in front of a couple that looked very similar to their current appearances, but weren’t identical. Rey was relieved to sense the woman in front of her had the Force. A bond between the two of them had once existed almost as strong as the one she and Ben shared now. It was clear they’d been incredibly strong Force users, trained in both the dark and the light. 

Finn watched with wonder as the people he’d known as Ben and Rey merged with the couple and were taken inside the minds of their previous selves. The husband and wife instantly remembered who they’d been during the Jedi Civil War.

“Bastila!” Ben’s former self cried out.

“Revan!” Rey’s former self replied. 

Basthila and Revan fell into each other’s arms, embracing for the first time in thousands of years. Their lips immediately met in a kiss as full of passion and love as any they’d ever shared. 

After a few moments they pulled away and stared into each other’s eyes again, touching each others faces, running their fingers through each others hair, just to make sure they were real. It had been so long since they’d been able to look upon each other like this. The years they’d shared together had been cut far too short when Revan had been taken from Basthila and imprisoned by their nemesis Vitiate.

“So… are you two still Ben and Ren in there?” Finn asked, lost as to what was happening. 

Bastila looked back at Finn and smiled. “Yes it’s still us in here.” She turned back to face Revan. She couldn’t bear to tear her eyes away from him for very long. “We’re just remembering who we were in another lifetime together.”

Something about it didn’t make sense to Finn. He’d known Jedi had led monastic lives when the order had been at it’s height, but just like Ben and Rey the two people who stood in front of him were clearly husband and wife. 

“I thought the Jedi forbid attachment back in the old days?” He asked. 

A brief sadness came over Basthila and Revan’s faces for a moment, remembering all of those who’d opposed their union. 

“They did…” Bastila replied, smiling again. “Not that that ever stopped us.”

Revan returned her smile. “From what I remember those who tried to create hard rules for the Force tended to know the least about it.” He suddenly remembered the last thought he’d had before dying and rejoining the Force. 

“Bastila, our son… is he-“

“Vaner” Bastila replied, beaming up at her husband. “He lived a wonderful life. You would have been so proud of him.”

“Vaner…” He loved saying his sons name out loud. It was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever heard. 

Another of Finn’s questions interrupted their reunion. “Guys… what’s Poe doing inside the mirror?”

Bastila and Revan turned to look in the direction Finn was staring. The mirror portal had reappeared in front of them. Poe appeared to be standing on the other side. His appearance was clear enough that there was no mistaking who they were looking at. 

Poe smiled at the three of them, as if he somehow knew what was going on. Suddenly his appearance shifted into someone else, like shadows passing across the same object. The man he transformed into favored Revan heavily.

“Vaner!” Bastila exclaimed. “Revan that’s our son!”

Revan stared in awe at the man their son had become. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he thought about all he’d lost when he’d been taken away from his family. He so wished he could have known the man staring back at him with eyes identical to his own. 

Vaner’s appearance changed and the man standing where their son had been was Poe again. For a few moments the two appearances flickered back and forth, like a flame caught in a burst of wind. 

Shock came over Bastila as she realized what the Force was telling them.

“Revan, our son… In this lifetime he’s-“

“Poe?” Revan replied. “How can that be…” A confused look came over Revan’s face. “Poe doesn’t have the Force like we do.” 

“Vaner didn’t either, sweetheart.” Bastila confirmed. “His path lay outside of the ways of the Force. He achieved so much for the Republic in the rebuilding after the war. He was a natural born leader. In a way, it’s clear history is repeating itself.” She smiled thinking of all that Poe’s leadership had helped them achieve in a very short amount of time.

“Poe… was your son… in a past life?” Finn asked, finally realizing what the vision meant. His shock transformed into a slight smile. “He’s gonna lose his mind when we tell him.” Of all the conversations the group of friends had shared about the Force, this was one he truly looked forward to witnessing. 

As the three of them stared at the portal the man in the mirror’s appearance steadied and remained Vaner. Vaner turned to his right as two more people stepped out from behind him. The man and woman who stood to his left clearly carried the family resemblance. 

“Bress! Reesa!” Bastila cried out in excitement, recognizing them instantly. “Revan, these were Vaner’s children! Our grandchildren!”

“Grandchildren?!” Revan asked, lost for words as he stared at the two of them. The tears that glistened in his eyes began to spill over. The blessing of seeing who his son had become was more than he’d expected, but grandchildren as well? Their son had gone on to have a family of his own! It was more joy than he could wrap his mind around. 

“It turns out the Force sometimes skips generations.” Bastila noted. “Bress and Reesa were incredibly powerful in the Force. Oh Revan how I wish you could have known them.”

Bastila and Revan held each other close as they took in the sight of their descendants. Though their time together had been cut cruelly short by fate, their son and grandchildren had gone on to live happy, full, prosperous lives. It was more than either of them could have hoped for. 

After a few moments of soaking up the joy of seeing who their son and grandchildren had become, Basthila and Revan felt themselves changing back into their current forms as Ben and Rey. 

“Well THAT was something.” Finn sighed as he saw his friends were back to their familiar selves. 

“I don’t think it’s over yet.” Rey replied as she nodded towards the mirror portal. Vaner, Bress, and Reesa were still standing where they had been, but their appearances had begun flickering as Vaner’s had before. Finn’s jaw dropped in shock as the three of them transformed into faces he knew well. 

“Oh gods…” Rey gasped. Vaner was Poe again as they’d seen before, but Bress had become Finn. “Finn you were…”

“Your grandson…” He barely got the words out. Finn suddenly felt weak and sat down on the floor of the cave. For almost all of his life he’d been no one from no where, a child taken from a family he’d never known. Now, not only was he a general and a war hero with a growing family of his own- it turns out he’d been someone who’d lived thousands of years ago. The Force had seen fit to bring him back and reunite him with the family he’d once known. More emotions flowed through him than he knew how to name. 

Rey came over to sit with him as the realization washed over the both of them. She could sense all of the emotions that flowed through him with the realization. She reached over and put her arms around him in a side hug. Finn kept staring up at the image in the portal as if to make sure that it was real. Sure enough his own face kept staring back at him, once in a while flickering to Bress, the man he’d been in a past life. 

Finn suddenly sat straight up as he recognized the face of the woman standing next to him in the vision. He’d been so shocked to see himself appear as Bress he hadn’t processed that Reesa had transformed into someone he’d met in this lifetime. He got up and walked toward the portal to get a better look and make sure he was seeing who he thought he was seeing.

The woman Reesa had transformed into came as a shock to Ben as well. Ben also stood right in front of the portal, staring intently at the woman’s face. 

“Guys, what is it?” Rey asked as she joined them. Ben looked like he’d seen a ghost. 

Rey studied her face for a moment, then realized she recognized who she was as well. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Is that…”

“Jannah…” Finn replied. “That’s definitely her.”

Ben looked back at Finn and Rey, confused how they’d recognize her or why they would call her by that name.

“Jannah?” Ben asked. “No- Wait, how do you two know who this is?” 

“How do you know who she is?” Rey asked. She’d barely known Jannah herself. The idea that Ben recognized the woman they’d met on Kef Bir was the biggest shock of the day, almost more so than Poe and Finn being their former son and grandson. 

Ben looked back at the woman in the portal. “I don’t recognize her face. I never knew her as an adult. But I’d recognize her presence in the Force anywhere. There's also a family resemblance. She looks just like her mother. That’s Cora, Lando’s daughter.”

Rey and Finn stared back at Jannah as Ben’s words sank in. The woman they’d met on Kef Bir had been Lando Calrissian’s daughter all along. 

Did he know? 

Did she know? 

Rey had sensed a connection when she saw them talking together on Endor… 

On top of that bombshell, she was a reincarnation of Ben and Rey’s granddaughter from a previous life. The Force certainly had a way of bringing people together...

“Well…” Rey spoke up, realizing what all of it meant. “Finn, you and I better get ready to talk to the capital tomorrow. It appears the Force just showed us who our next padawan will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Shans are back in town! Can't wait to see Poe's reaction to this one. 😂


	63. New Challenges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three friends head back to the village to inform the others of all the've learned. Before they get there Finn and Rey realize they have some difficult news for Ben about their potential new padawan.

As the three friends climbed up the hill together on their walk back up to the village, Ben remembered what he’d been meaning to ask down in the cave.

“So I get that you two met Cora when you met Lando, but why did you call her Jannah? Did she change her name as an adult?”

Rey and Finn’s stomachs dropped at they stared at each other, realizing the news they’d have to give Ben. Rey knew she’d better be the one to deliver it. 

“Sweetheart” She said, stopping in the middle of the trail to face him. “Are you absolutely sure that the woman we saw was your godsister Cora?”

“You know how individual Force signatures are.” Ben replied, wondering why she'd stopped. “There’s no mistaking it.”

Rey took a deep breath. “We didn’t meet her when we met Lando on Pasaana. We met her on Kef Bir.”

Ben looked confused. “Kef Bir?! What was she doing there?”

Finn and Rey looked at each other again, eyes full of anxiety. It was the last news Rey wanted to give him but knew there was no way of avoiding it. If Jannah was coming to train with them, he would need to come to terms with what had happened to her sooner than later. 

“She was a member of a party of former Stormtroopers that had mutinied from the First Order. Jannah was the name she chose. She didn’t remember having any other.”

Ben’s head spun as Rey’s words sank in. His teeth clenched and his shoulders shook as his hands balled up at his sides in fists of rage. The little girl he’d spent a week with on his last camping trip ever with his godfather had never known her family. She’d been taken by the First Order- like so many of the thousands of innocent youth he’d heard discussed at command meetings. She’d been stolen from a family who loved her, a family for whom she was their whole world, and she’d been forced to forget they’d ever existed. 

As if that wasn’t terrible enough, his own family had never told him about the tragedy that had befallen his godfather. It was more than he could handle. 

“Ben, honey are you ok?” Rey asked looking up at him. 

Without saying a word he stormed off over the grassy hill. 

Finn stepped to go after him but Rey shot an arm out to stop him, shaking her head to let him know not to follow. 

Ben got to the edge of the cliff and stared out over the ocean as his world spun. 

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!!” He screamed over the watery abyss that stretched out to the horizon. Porgs flew in every direction as his rage shook them from their calm. As the echoes of his scream faded he collapsed into the grass. His head hung in his hands as he stared down at the ground.

Rey found a comfortable patch of grass near where they’d been standing and sat as well. Finn looked down at her, unsure what to do. She pated the patch of grass next to her to let him know to sit down and join her. This would be a while. 

Rey’s heart broke for Ben as she felt the pain and rage that was coursing through him. She could always read when he needed her to get through something, and this wasn’t one of those times. This time he needed to sit and be alone for a while with all that he was feeling. 

Rey and Finn waited on the hill above him as he grieved the childhood his godsister had stolen from her. Though he figured he hadn’t been a part of the First Order when she’d been taken, the guilt he felt over having been a part of that disgusting regime was as fresh and raw as it had ever been.

Rey’s stomach growled about an hour later as the suns crept lower in the sky. Breastfeeding twins meant skipping meals was never an option. Rey realized she’d need to get back to her daughters soon, not to mention get something to eat. 

“I’ll be right back.” She said to Finn getting up and walking towards where Ben was sitting. 

She sat down in the grass next to him and immediately put her arms around him. He leaned into her without saying a word. 

_Honey… I’m so… so sorry. ___She said through their bond as she held him. It was all she could think to say. She began running her fingers through his hair to try and comfort him. Touch was always needed when words failed.

Ben didn’t reply for a while. He didn’t know what there was to be said in that moment. He wanted to scream and cry and yell but knew that none of it would make any difference. He just needed to sit and let the emotions of everything coming at him flow through him until he’d worked through all of it. How long that would be, he wasn’t sure. 

_It is getting a little late, and Finn and I will need to get back to the kiddos. Will you be all right if we head back to the village? ___

Ben let out a heavy sigh.

_Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just need to sit here a little longer. ___

Rey rubbed his back. She needed him to feel how much she was there for him in all that he was going through. 

_You know I’m here for you, whatever you need. ___

Ben took her hand and squeezed it hard. _Thank you. ___After a few moments he kissed her hand and looked up at her. His deep green eyes were a little cloudier than they normally were, but the look on his face let her know he’d be ok.

“I love you sweetheart.” She said kissing his forehead as she stood to leave. 

“I love you too.” He replied, looking back down at the ground. 

A few moments later Rey was back with Finn. 

“Is he gonna be ok?” Finn asked.

“Yeah…” Rey said looking back at her husband as he stared out over the ocean. “Unfortunately this is something he’s used to by now. Bad news from the past has a way of creeping up on us, on him. He just… has to work through it.” She bit her lip as she felt the pain and guilt still coursing through him, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop it. She turned back to face her friend. “He’ll be back to us when he’s ready.”

*****

After a quick lunch Finn and Rey gathered everyone together in Ben and Rey’s hut. They needed to fill in the group on what they’d seen so they could prepare for the arrival of another padawan- not to mention share the huge revelation they’d had about Poe’s history. 

Rose and Zorii got settled playing with the babies on the floor as Finn and Poe sat together on the couch. Just as Rey was about to start Ben burst in the door. 

“Um… hey guys.” He said awkwardly, not yet ready to face the whole group. He decided to ignore the group gathered in his living room. He had too much on his mind to be social just yet. “I’m gonna go take a shower.” He said turning to Rey. “I’ll be back out in a bit.”

“Of course.” She replied. “Whatever you need.”

A few moments later he’d disappeared into their bedroom and Rey heard the shower turn on at full blast. 

“What’s got into him?” Poe asked confused.

Finn and Rey look at each other for a moment. 

Rey sighed. “It’s part of what we saw in the cave today. He found out his godsister that he knew as a baby was taken and raised as a Stormtrooper by the First Order. It hit him pretty hard.”

“Holy shit…” Poe replied, stunned by the gravity of the news. “That would hit pretty hard. How’d you figure that out?”

“It’s part of what I brought you all here to talk about. I might wait till Ben gets back out here to go into all of it but for now I can tell you that Jannah is who we’re talking about.

“Kef Bir Jannah?” Poe asked, the news he’d just heard suddenly starting to make sense.

“Yes.” Rey replied. “Her birth name was Cora Calrissian. She’s Lando’s daughter.”

“That’s right...” Poe replied. “I guess Ben wouldn’t have known that.”

Rey looked at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“Lando and Jannah found out who she was a while back. Lando had a hunch about it when they first met on Endor and went and searched First Order records. I think he suspected it but wanted to be sure first. They told me about it a while ago when I checked in.”

Rey breathed a sigh of relief. That would make things a little easier for them if they already knew about their connection. The rest of it of course would be much harder to describe. That would have to wait until Jannah joined them on the island.

Rey heard the shower cut off. A few minutes later Ben came out of their bedroom. He shook his wet hair out as he made a beeline for the fridge. He grabbed a whole baked Nuna and collapsed on the couch with it, devouring it with his bare hands without saying a word. 

Poe looked at him amused. “Hungry there buddy?”

“I’m fucking starving.” Ben mumbled. 

“Honey… language around the kids.” Rey reminded him. 

Rose giggled behind her as Owan chewed on a rattle. 

“Sorry.” Ben said between bites. “I’m… really, really hungry.”

“Well now that we’re all here together, lets get on to what we saw in the cave today.” Rey said attempting to settle the group.

“This should be exciting.” Zorii said. 

“You have no idea.” Poe sighed, remembering all of the nonsensical conversations he’d previously had with his friends about the ways of the Force. He had no doubt whatever they were about to tell him was something he’d never actually be able to share with the capital. This would be just one of many times he would have to twist the truth about what they were up to, while covering for what they were actually up to. 

Rey sensed Poe’s lack of excitement and couldn’t help but smile knowing he had the biggest surprise of all of them to look forward to. She figured she better get started with that. She began by explaining how they’d been reminded of their former selves as Basthila and Revan- and how they’d been shown Poe was the reincarnation of their son Vaner. 

Rey stopped and waited for Poe’s reaction. He immediately burst out laughing.

“What about that is funny?” Rey asked.

“Me? I’m your and Ben’s son from a past life? Ok. You’ve told me a lot of wild stuff Rey, but that’s a good one.”

“It’s true.” Finn backed her up. “I saw all of it. You three were part of the same family thousands of years ago and the Force brought you back together with Ben and Rey.”

“Sure man, whatever you say.” Poe was still laughing. “So what, Zorri and Rose were the queens of Corusant too? That’s what you’re gonna tell us next right?”

“Hey, you don’t know I could have been.” Zorii spoke up.

“Honestly wouldn’t surprise me.” Poe replied. 

Rey sighed. “I have no doubt that Rose and Zorii were all kinds of important figures throughout history but the cave hasn’t shown us that much yet.”

“Well I look forward to it when it does.” Rose said smiling.

Rey went on. “You don’t have to believe it Poe but that doesn’t make it any less true. It also doesn’t make what else it showed us less true.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Poe asked, intrigued. Of all the things they’d tried to tell him about the Force, this was the least believable. He couldn’t wait to see where they’d go with it next. 

“Vaner, the man who you were in a past life, he had two children who were incredibly powerful in the Force like their grandparents. They’ve been brought back to us as well. Finn and Jannah, they are reincarnations of his children Brees and Reesa.”

“No way… Finn was my son too? Even better…” Poe’s laughter continued. “…and Jannah?! Wow you two really thought this through.”

Ben turned to look at Poe as he devoured his late lunch. He sighed heavily with a look that roughly translated too “I do not have time for your shit today.”

Unfazed, Poe replied “What, you don’t see the humor in that?” He looked around and realized he was the only one laughing. His laughter died as it dawned on him that this wasn’t a joke. “Holy shit you guys are serious…”

“Yes Poe we ARE serious.” Rey said frustrated. 

Poe’s eyes glazed over as he thought about all that could mean. “But wait.” He finally spoke up. “If that’s true why can’t I do all the cool Force stuff like you guys?” 

“Apparently it skips generations.” Finn answered. “Basthila said so herself.”

“Well that’s… typical.” Poe said, a little disappointed he’d missed out on the family tradition. 

“That doesn’t make your part in all of this any less important.” Rey reassured him. “If anything none of us would be here if not for you. While we’re off doing ‘all the cool Force stuff’ someone has to keep the capital happy so our work can continue. That’s where you come in.”

“I guess you’re right...” He said smiling. “Someone’s gotta be the lead pilot.” He said with a satisfied sigh. 

Ben snorted, stifling a laugh.

“Oh what that’s funny?” Poe asked turning to him.

“No, no… it makes perfect sense.” Ben replied smiling, clearly trying not to laugh.

Rey rolled her eyes at both of them. As happy as it made her to see Ben smiling again, if they could get through five minutes of conversation without the unending rivalry between the two of them coming up it would be the best day of her life. 

“There was one other thing we saw, which brings up our next challenge.” She was determined to keep them on track. “As I was saying you and Finn weren’t the only ones it showed us. Apparently Jannah was your daughter, our granddaughter, in that past life and highly Force sensitive as well. We’d like to bring her on as our next padwan.”

“Jannah, huh?” Poe paused for a moment as he thought over all they’d just revealed. “So that’s how you figured out the… connection…” He suddenly remembered this was a tough subject for Ben. 

“Yes” Rey said jumping in. “Ben, sweetheart Poe had some good news earlier. Lando and Jannah already know who she is. They were able to find through a records search what you sensed down in the cave.”

“That’s… awesome.” Was all Ben could get out as he stared down at what was left of his meal. 

“So wait what does all this mean?” Poe asked looking back at Rey. “Do I call you guys mom and dad now or what?”

“Please don’t.” Rey replied. “We’re still who we are in this life. Realizing who we were in past lives just helps us guide our path in this one. There’s often some wisdom from knowing our past that ends up helping us in one way or another.”

“Like what?” Poe was fascinated by the thought that past versions of oneself could teach their current selves something they needed to know. 

“Well...” Ben spoke up. “For starters the two we saw seemed pretty in favor of attachment, even though everyone else around them wasn’t big on it.” Rey hadn’t expected him to speak up like that just yet, and was glad he did.

“Exactly.” She chimed in. “We could tell that forbidding attachment had caused far more problems than it solved. That’s something we’ve seen with Padme and Anakin. Though it was forbidden for thousands of years, many Jedi did fall in love. Some even married. Unfortunately it rarely ended well. The ways the old Jedi order tried to control the Force within people seem to have been counter productive in many ways.”

“Jedi getting married...” Poe said, “I never really thought about it. I guess you guys have more than crossed that threshold huh?”

“Clearly.” Rey said, smiling at Hana who had grabbed onto her leg letting her know it was time to eat. She reached down to pick her up to hold her on her hip. “These are all things we’ve sensed or had ideas about, but seeing how they’ve played out in the past just gives us the evidence we need to know we’re on the right path.”

“Interesting…” Poe sat and wracked his brain about how he was going to spin the idea of married Jedi. It might be a while before he could sell that one to any of their supporters. The image of the monastic Jedi was something that had reigned in the galaxy for thousands of years. Changing beliefs that had held for that long would take quite a feat. 

As the conversation went on around him he couldn’t help but keep going back to the idea of Jedi having families. Selling that idea to the public would be every bit as difficult as convincing people to accept that someone who’d subjugated the galaxy with an iron fist had come back to the light and was truly a force for good. They weren’t anywhere near figuring that one out yet either. 

Until they had those things figured out, he’d have think of other ways to warm the capital up to the idea that things were going to have to change if they wanted an order of Force users protecting the galaxy. 

It was a challenge he couldn’t wait to tackle.

*****

After dinner Rose and Finn headed back up to their hut early as Owan had grown fussy over a new tooth. Rey and Zorii sat on the living room floor together playing with the twins. They were determined to wear them out from their last hurrah of the day so they’d fall soundly to sleep for their parents soon. 

As Ben and Poe cleaned up in the kitchen Poe took Ben aside with a question he didn’t want Zorii hearing. 

“Hey man, those wedding bands you and Rey have… did you make them?”

“Yeah I did. Why?”

Poe lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Do um, do you think you could show me how?” 

Ben realized immediately what he was asking.

“You’re thinking of popping the question?”

The biggest smile broke out on Poe’s face. “Yeah… I am.”

“That’s great! Congrats man, Rey will be so excited for you two.”

Poe beamed at the thought of it. “You know… I can’t help but think I’ve got Rey to thank for Zorii coming around to the idea. For a while she avoided or changed the subject whenever I brought it up. Ever since those babies got here though, she suddenly warmed up to the idea. She even brought it up a couple times herself recently. Cute kids man, they have an effect on all of us.”

“That they do.” Ben agreed. “About rings though, Rey and I were in a bit of a hurry when we first got together and I used the Force to make these.”

“Ah, guess I’m out of luck on learning those skills then.”

“The easy way, yeah, but we’re got some metal working tools for building sabers that you could use to make some bands. I’ll show you how to use them. We could set you up in one of the empty huts so it’s out of the way and Zorii doesn’t see what you’re up to.”

“You’d do that?” 

“Of course. After all you’ve done to get us set up here, we just about owe you our lives at this point. The least I can do is help you out with this.”

“Thanks man, you’re the best.” Poe patted him on the back as he hugged him for a moment. Ben was slowly warming up to the custom of hugging. “Zorii’s more about uniqueness over flashy stuff, so I figured something I made would be best. Plus we’ve not exactly got a jeweler on the island. A trip by myself back to civilization would be a little obvious.”

“That it would.” Ben laughed. “Exciting times- finding the right woman, starting your lives together. If there’s anything you two need just let us know. We didn’t exactly take the traditional route but we’ve figured out a few things along the way.”

“Thanks man I appreciate that. Of course we will need witnesses for a ceremony to make it legal.”

Ben paused. “I don’t think a dead person can sign a marriage certificate.”

Poe was reminded of his friend’s unusual circumstances. “Right… sorry I forgot… here I’m talking about legal stuff and that’s-“

“No it’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’ve never even thought about the legal side of it. At the time the ceremony itself seemed a little redundant. “Till death do us part” and I’d literally just come back from the dead.”

Poe laughed. “Didn’t take the traditional route, indeed.”

Ben smiled remembering their impromptu ceremony. “I guess I never told you that story. I’d just got to Tatooine and we’d been kept apart so long I, uh, couldn’t wait much longer if you catch my drift.”

“Ha, I hear that.” Poe laughed. 

“Anyway I made Rey wait outside while I used the Force to set the homestead up how we’d need it to be comfortable. While I was doing that the idea of making it official popped into my head. I ran down to the maintenance hanger and used the Force to make two bands as quickly as I could. The next thing you know I’ve got her in the courtyard and asked her to marry me and she said yes. We sort of made up our own ceremony on the spot. We promised ourselves to each other forever and that’s all that really mattered.” He thought about it for a moment. “Someday it would be nice if we could make it legal and all but for now that’s all we need.”

“That’s… really beautiful.” Poe said, surprised by how heartfelt and thought out it all was. The more he learned about Rey’s match in the Force, the more surprises he found about the man Ben Solo really was. Though they’d started out as enemies, they were more alike than he ever could have imagined. Whatever it was that had kept him trapped on the dark side for so long, it must have been pretty powerful. It was something Poe didn’t like being reminded about, but a reality he was used to having to think about by now.

*****

Later that night Ben and Rey laid in bed together as twins slept between them. Rey could sense Ben’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions as he stared at his sleeping daughters. His thoughts were on Jannah, and all that lay ahead of them as they took on the challenge of a new padawan. 

“Everything all right sweetheart?” She asked, knowing full and well he had plenty he wanted to talk about. 

“It’s been quite a day.” He replied, unsure where to begin. 

“That is has.” She agreed. She figured she’d better be the one to say it. “About Jannah- I sense you may be a little nervous about training her… with all she’s been through?” 

“Of course I am.” Ben replied, relieved she understood his fears. “I was supposed to be like a big brother to her and I ended up leading the organization that took her from her family.” He turned to lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. “What is she going to think of me when she sees me? When she realizes who I was? Who I became? What do I even say to her when she gets here? ‘Hi you don’t remember me but I was your godbrother. I also led the organization that abducted you when you were a baby.’ That’s hardly a great start to a student-teacher relationship. ”

Rey sat for a moment, unsure what to say to all that. She suddenly remembered something very important. 

“Well… our first padawan is a former stormtrooper. He’s had no problem forgiving you for your past- once he’s seen who you truly are. Of all people Finn has every reason to hold a grudge against you. Kylo literally put him into a coma on Starkiller, and yet he’s still been able to forgive you. Not just that, he’s done remarkably well under your leadership as his master. If he can see you, the real you, there’s no reason Jannah shouldn’t be able to do that as well.”

It was everything Ben needed to hear. Out of everyone in the galaxy Finn had every reason to hate him, and yet by some miracle he didn’t. Ben remembered back to their first tense meeting at their homestead on Tatooine. He remembered how much Finn had hated him at first, how he’d lost his mind just seeing him standing next to Rey. Then at some point during their first conversation together he’d miraculously warmed up to him. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he had a feeling the Force must have had something to do with it. If the Force could help a former enemy see the person he truly was, he prayed somehow it could do the same for a long lost godsister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Bliss-Dameron wedding and a new padawan to join the crew- sounds like exciting times are ahead for our crew on Ahch To!
> 
> Note on what Ben was eating- Nuna is a bird native to Naboo. They're the closest thing the Star Wars universe has to chicken. You'll remember Ben and Rey shared some on Tatooine when Finn and Poe showed up. Since there's no way Chewie is letting them eat Porgs, they've had to import other sources of protein so they're not stuck just eating fish. 
> 
> The inspiration for Ben sitting and eating one all by himself came from a story from one of Adam Driver's Juilliard classmates. According to the classmate he used to sit in class and eat a whole chicken by himself for lunch all the time. That sounded like such a Ben move I had to include it.


	64. Twists of Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey asks Jannah to be her new padwan. Her response leads Rey to the realization that they could use some extra help in addition to bringing on a new padawan.

The next morning Rey and Finn sat on Poe’s couch, preparing to talk to Jannah on the holocomm. After several minutes of trying to establish a connection, Jannah finally appeared before them. 

Her appearance had changed quite a bit from the ex-stormtrooper they’d met on Kef Bir. Her style had evolved into a more polished and cosmopolitan look. The beautiful wild curls that spilled over her shoulders now had streaks of purple and gold that added an artistic flair to her appearance. It was clear city life had agreed with her. 

“Hi Jannah!” Rey and Finn greeted her excitedly. 

“Hello you guys!” She answered back. “Oh it’s been so long since I’ve seen both of you! How are you?”

“We’re doing great.” Rey answered. “Life on Ahch To is fantastic.”

“Can’t beat island life.” Finn agreed.

“So what was it you two wanted to ask me today? I’m sure a meeting out of the blue from the edge of the galaxy has to be about something big.”

Rey jumped right in. “I’ve decided with how well Finn’s training is going I’m at the point where I’d like to take on another Padawan. Finn mentioned he’d sensed your Force sensitivity during your time together at the end of the war. We wondered if you’d be interested in coming and joining us here as my next padawan?”

Jannah was shocked. It was the last thing she’d expected. “Oh gosh you guys, that’s- wow….”

“I know it’s a lot to ask to pack up come out here to the unknown regions. You don’t have to decide right away if you don’t want to. Think about it and get back to us if you want to spend some time on it.”

Rey could see Jannah mulling it over. It was clear she was thrilled about the opportunity but something was holding her back. 

“This might sound like an odd question but… is this a kind of training I could do remotely? Like do I have to come all the way out to Ahch To to train with you?”

Rey and Finn looked at each other. They hadn’t expected that question. 

“No Jannah, you would have to be here with us while we train you.” Rey answered.

“We?” Janna asked. “Will Finn be training me too?”

Rey looked at Finn, realizing her slip.

“Uh yes…” She answered. “Yes he will.”

“Yes, yes I will.” Finn confirmed. “I am a Jedi master now. That’s right.” Rey realized he was still just as terrible of a liar as they day they’d met on Jakuu. 

“Jedi master huh?” Thankfully Jannah hadn’t caught on. “War hero and now Jedi Master, Finn you have moved up in the world.”

“Thanks.” Was all he could think to reply. 

“So Jannah…” Rey figured she’d better get them back on track. “What is it that’s holding you back about coming out here? Is it the distance?”

Jannah sighed, smiling. “Well you’ll probably think this is a little silly but the truth is I’ve been seeing someone over the past year and it’s got to the point where it’s pretty serious. We’ve just moved in together. It would be hard for me to pack up and head to the other side of the galaxy for an indefinite amount of time. When you find a good thing it’s best to make sure you hold onto it.”

“That I totally understand.” Rey replied. 

“You do?” Jannah was surprised by the admission. She didn’t think Rey would have had a lot of dating prospects on a remote island in the unknown regions.

“I mean…” Rey tried to save herself. “I mean I imagine it would be hard to pack up and leave if you had someone you’d just settled in with. I don’t actually know what that’s like, just… I can imagine how it might be.” Rey was quickly realizing why she left these things up to Poe. She was every bit as much of a terrible liar as Finn was. “So… who is it?” Rey asked hoping to steer the conversation. “Anyone we know?”

“Actually yes. He mentioned he helped with your studies of the texts during the war. You remember Beaumont right?”

“Beaumont Kinn?!” Rey replied stunned. The notion that they were an item seemed almost too good to be true… 

“Yes!” Jannah replied. “I was working near the university after moving to town and he’d just taken a job there. We met through mutual friends we’d known at the end of the war after work one day and things went from there.” Jannah was practically glowing talking about her recent romance.

“Really?” Finn couldn’t believe it. “Beaumont, huh…. I never pictured him as your type.”

Jannah cocked he head to the side. “What the hell do you know about my type Finn?” Rey tried not to laugh. Jannah’s spunk was just as strong as she’d remembered, and Finn had absolutely brought that on himself. 

“I just mean… he’s so bookish and well…” Finn was doing his best to save himself and failing miserably. “You just strike me as the outdoorsy, badass type.”

Jannah sighed. “So because I was a stormtrooper on the run that defines who I am? Really, Finn, of all people to say that.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. He deserved all of what she was saying. 

“That’s more than fair.” Finn agreed, realizing he’d better be quiet before he made things worse. 

Suddenly Rey had a thought. Something inside of her had sensed their challenges with ancient texts were only going to grow in the future. Whatever lay ahead, she’d felt for some time that they may need help in addition to what they were able to do. She realized she knew exactly how she was going to get Jannah out training with them, as well as how she could gain some much needed help on their studies of the ancient texts.

“You know Jannah, I might have a solution to getting you out here to train with us. Could you give me Beaumont’s communications info so I can run something by him?”

“Now what are you up to?” Jannah asked. 

“You’ll see. I’ll get back to you about training in a moment. Sound like a plan?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jannah agreed. “I’ll send you his info right now.”

Rey turned to Finn. “I need to go grab something from my place but I’ll be right back. Put in Beaumont’s coordinates and see if you can establish a connection. I should be back by the time you reach him.”

“Sure...” Finn replied, sensing what she was up to.

Rey dashed down to her hut to grab several copies of the texts she’d been studying.

Her heart melted when she entered the hut and saw Ben on the floor with the girls. The twins were in a fit of giggles from the silly faces their daddy was making for them.

“Daddy daughter time going well I take it?” she asked.

“It’s fantastic.” Ben replied. 

Rey paused for a moment as she watched the three of them playing together. Of all the roles she’d seen her husband take on, Ben as a father was her favorite. The more his bond with their daughters grew, the more she felt herself falling in love with him all over again. 

Hana and Ilaria sensed their mommy’s presence as she did her best to quickly grab the texts she needed. Both looked up to greet her with the biggest smiles.

“Uh oh, I’ve been seen…” Rey said. “Distract them so they don’t lose it while I leave?”

“I’m on it.” Ben said, scooping a baby up in each arm and heading out to the deck so they could all look out at the ocean together. As Rey left the hut she heard a mixture of squaks and baby giggles coming from the deck. Ben was imitating the porgs that nested along the cliffs under their deck and the girls were eating it up. 

Rey dashed back up the hill and found Finn still working with the holocomm where she’d left him.

“The connection is still going through.” He said. “It should just be a few minutes.”

Rey waited eagerly, hoping they’d found Beaumont in his office. The chance to have one of the galaxy’s top experts on ancient languages translating texts with them was just the help they needed to really dive in to the challenging parts. 

Finally Beaumont appeared on the holocomm in front of them.

“Rey! Finn! I didn’t expect a drop in from you two like this. How is life?”

“It’s great.” Rey replied. She couldn’t wait to show him what she was holding. “Listen Beaumont remember how I’d been studying all those texts I got from Luke?”

“The largest collection of ancient texts in the galaxy- how could I forget?!”

“Well here’s the thing.” The huge smile on Rey’s face let Beaumont know she had something big to share with him “I’ve been doing some… traveling, and I’ve found a few more copies I’d like you to take a look at.”

“MORE?!” The nine texts Rey had during the war represented a goldmine of knowledge unlike anything he’d ever seen. He couldn’t believe she’d actually found more. “Rey, you have some luck with ancient texts.”

“You might say that.” She said smiling. She realized she’d better get one thing clear before she showed him what they were working on. 

“This is a secure line, correct?”

“Yes…”

“And it’s just you there? There’s no one else in the office that could see or over hear us?”

Beaumont looked around confused. “Of course, it’s just me in here.”

Rey went on. “The thing about these new texts is, they’re not like the one’s you saw me studying during the war. These new texts I’ve found, they’re a bit… alternative to the one’s I’ve been studying.”

“Alternative how?”

“It’s become clear in my studies of the Force that in order to stop anything like what Palpatine did from happening again, we’re going to need to approach it from all sides. The best way to never get caught off guard is to know what you’re dealing with.”

“What exactly are you saying…” He had an idea what she meant, and truth be told the idea wasn’t one he was opposed to. As an academic he understood the need for studying any and all forms of knowledge. For obvious reasons he needed her to be the first one to say it though.

“How about I show you.” She picked up a few pages of dark text about entrances to the Chain Worlds Theorem and held them up for him to see.

“Holy hell… Rey, where did you get that?!” He asked stunned. The runes on the pages she held up represented knowledge that had been lost or banned from most parts of the galaxy for thousands of years.

“I’ll tell you all about it if you agree to come to Ahch To and help me study them. This page is from one of nine new texts I’m going over.”

“NINE new texts?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “So… you’ve _doubled ___the already insanely rare and unique collection you already had?”

“Exactly.” Rey said smiling. She could tell her plan was working. “So what do you say? Are you up for coming out here and working on them with me? Before you answer, know that I’ve offered Jannah a position to come train with me as my next padawan as well.” 

“You what?!” 

“Just before we called you I offered her a position to come train with us. Finn had mentioned to me she was Force sensitive and I decided to make her my next padawan. She was a bit hesitant though. It seemed to have something to do with you. I figured I could use the help with the texts and thought I’d better bring you on as well. So… what do you think? Are you up for it?” 

Hearing Jannah would be coming too was all he needed to hear. “Absolutely. I’ll need about a month to finish up the classes I’m teaching this semester but once I wrap those up we can head out your way. Gods this is not how I expected today would go…” 

Rey smiled. Her plan had worked. “I’ll check back in with Jannah and we’ll go from there.”

“Excellent.” Beaumont replied. 

Finn switched the connection back over to Jannah as Rey got ready to fill her in.

“Hey Jannah, new development- Beaumont has agreed to take on the position of translator with me for some new texts I’ve been working on- but only if you’re also up for accepting the position I offered you to train as my new padawan.”

Jannah broke into a huge smile. “I knew you were up to something. Rey, Finn, you two can count me in.”

“Yes!” Rey and Finn cheered, high fiving each other. 

“Welcome to the Ahch To crew!” Finn said, excited to be getting a new training partner.

“Ahhhh I’m so excited!” Jannah joined in their celebration. “This will definitely be an improvement from clerical work for the new republic!”

“Ugh, that sounds terrible.” Finn said

“You have no idea.” Jannah said shaking her head. “My dad got me the job. There’s not many work opportunities for ex-stormtroopers who spent the past several years on an extended camping trip. I’m grateful for the work of course but it does get more than a little tedious.”

“Your dad?” Rey made sure to act as if she hadn’t heard the news.

“Oh that’s right! You two are out of the loop. When we all got back to civilization Lando looked through First Order records and found where I’d been taken from. It was where he and my mother had lived at the time. It confirmed what he’d already suspected- that I was his daughter.”

“Wow! No kidding?! Jannah that’s wonderful!” Rey did her best to act surprised. “I so can’t wait to hear about all you’ve been up to since the end of the war! I’m sure we all have a lot of catching up to do.”

“That we do.” Jannah said smiling.

*****

Poe got back to his hut just as their meeting with Jannah ended.

“So how did it go?” he asked as he came in the door. 

“Marvelous.” Rey replied. 

“So we’ve got another padawan on the way... The will be music to the capital’s ears. Guess we should get one of the single huts fixed up for her?” He said thinking ahead.

“That’s another development we should discuss...” Rey replied. “Turns out we’re getting a two for one deal.”

Poe looked confused. “How so?”

“Well she’s recently moved in with someone and when I offered the job she was hesitant to take it if she had to come out here alone and leave everything behind.”

“That I understand.” Poe replied, remembering he’d done the same. “Love interests do have to be imported on Ahch To.”

“There’s always the natives.” Finn laughed. 

Poe shook his head at the thought. “So, who’s the lucky guy that’s getting dragged out here with Jannah?”

“That actually worked out perfectly....” Rey replied. A little too perfectly, she thought to herself. “We can use all the help we can get with the texts and by some miraculous twist of fate she and Beaumont are an item now.”

“Jannah and Beaumont?!” Poe replied stunned. “Huh, didn’t see that coming...” 

“That’s what I said!” Finn agreed. 

Rey rolled her eyes. “Honestly for married men you two know so little about women.”

“I mean, technically I’m not married yet.” Poe added. 

“Yet?” Rey said with a smile. “Is that something we might expect to change in the near future?”

The huge grin on Poe’s face told them all they needed to know. “I might as well fill you two in. This has to stay between us though. I don’t want the surprise getting spoiled for Zorii.”

“Of course.” They both agreed. 

“Ben and I talked about it last night and he’s going to get me set up with those tools you three use to work on your sabers. I’m going to make a set of rings for me and Zorri so I can ask her to marry me.”

Rey squealed with excitement and she and Finn threw their arms around Poe in a group hug.

“Oh Poe that’s fantastic!” Rey said. “I’m so excited for you two!” 

“Congrats man. Rose is gonna lose it when I tell her.” Finn said excitedly.

“But remember, like I said, no telling Zorii. I want this to be a big surprise.”

“Your secret is safe with us.” Rey assured him. “I think we all know a thing or two about keeping secrets.”

“That we do.” Poe agreed. “It’s safe to say we’re all pretty much experts by now...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading up on the array of characters that got added to the saga in TROS has made me realize there was a point to all of the additions, they just didn't remember to tell us what those points were in the movie. That's where fix it fics come in- to make sense of everything we should have had explained to us in the movie. 
> 
> Of course, a little shipping here and there to make it interesting doesn't hurt either. 😉


	65. New Faces, Old Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beaumont and Jannah arrive on Ahch To. Rey realizes more than ever just how much Ben has come through to make it to this point.

The morning they’d all been waiting on for over a month had finally arrived- the first new human faces on the island in over a year were due to land at any moment. Poe and Zorii had headed back to the capital to pick Beaumont and Jannah up, as well as to stock the freighter up with whatever they could pack in on one trip. On their way back, Poe also had the task of filling Jannah and Beaumont in on what all had really been happening on Ahch To the past year and a half. Rey prayed that had gone well. 

As the freighter made another nail biting landing Rey, Chewie, Finn, and the droids waited along the steps on the hillside. Zorii was the first to exit the freighter, beaming as she saw her friends. Poe followed behind her with a huge smile of his own. 

“I sense you have some big news?” Rey said as she pulled her in for a hug.

Without saying a word Zorii pulled back and showed her friend her left hand. On her ring finger was a simple and beautiful metal band Poe had made himself. 

“Poe proposed?!” Rey said, doing her best to at surprised.

“Yes!” Zorii replied, glowing. 

“Braaaghh!” Chewie yelled in congratulations. 

“Ahhh! Congrats!” Finn cried joining in the excitement. “Our first Ahch To wedding- Rose is gonna flip when she finds out!”

At that moment Rey noticed Poe was sporting a new look they weren’t used to seeing.

“A cape?!” she asked. “I see you picked up some new fashions for yourself in addition to the fabrics I requested?”

“You like it?” Poe asked, flourishing the material to show how it gleamed in the sunlight. “Lando introduced me to his tailor. I figured it couldn’t hurt to bring some Hanna City sophistication back to Ahch To.”

“It certainly is... a look.” Finn said, doing his best not to laugh.

Poe took it in stride. “Hey man, some of you are born to wear Jedi robes, some of us are born to wear capes. I don’t make the rules. I just follow them.”

“So you’re a rule follower now?!” Rey asked cheekily.

“You know… when it suits me.” Poe shrugged with a smile.

“Hey, where is is Mrs. Tico?” Jannah asked as she joined the group, realizing her friend was missing from the welcome party. 

“She’s up at the hut with Owan... He was a little fussy this morning.” Finn replied. 

“I do get to meet him soon though right?” Jannah asked firmly. “You know half the reason I came out here was to meet him.” She cracked a smile to let Finn know she was giving him a hard time. 

“Of course.” Finn replied. “I know he can’t wait to meet you guys too.”

“Beaumont!” Rey said, excited to see her friend again as he exited the ship. She’d needed his help for so long and was beyond relieved to have it. “Goodness I can’t believe you’re both here! This is so great!”

“We’re glad to be here too.” Beaumont said giving his friend a hug. “I’m just surprised you didn’t call me sooner with as many texts as you’ve found.”

“Indeed… you should have called us sooner. You guys have been keeping more than a few secrets on this island, haven’t you?” The change in Jannah’s tone let Rey know the news they’d received from Poe had given her mixed feelings. Rey knew she’d better get them up to her hut to fill them both in on everything that had been going on.

*****

As Rey helped her guests get settled and comfortable on her couch, she continued to sense a conflict within Jannah. She figured they’d better dive in to all they had to talk about right away. 

“I’m sure you both have a lot of questions. So, what has Poe filed you in on so far?”

Jannah and Beaumont looked at each other, unsure where to begin. Jannah sighed. “Well first off I’d really like to know why no one has told my father that my godbrother is still alive.”

Poe looked at Rey with eyebrows raised. Apparently that had been a big issue for Jannah. Rey hadn’t expected that, but perhaps she should have. 

Rey did her best to explain. “News of Ben’s existence… isn’t something we want going off this island. Not just yet.”

“Why?” Jannah couldn’t understand it. “Why lie to the galaxy and say he died when he didn’t?”

Rey took a deep breath. On the one hand, she was relieved to get the hard stuff out of the way. On the other, there were many reasons why this topic was the hardest to discuss. “I’m not sure how much Poe told you about the supernatural side to our story, but the actual truth is he did die on Exegol- and soon after he came back. He was able to be reborn in the Force and join me once I got to Tatooine. We don’t know how to explain it yet. Or rather, we’re getting closer to explaining it, but we don’t have all the details figured out yet.”

“So that’s why you’re camped out in the unknown regions studying forbidden texts?” Beumont said, getting a better idea of what had been going on with his friends all this time. He’d sensed from their first conversation there was much more to their story than just old texts.

“Yes, actually...” Rey went on. “That’s the start of it. Figuring that out while figuring out how to truly balance the Force was what brought us here. The more we study and learn, the more questions we seem to get. The deeper we dive into the Force, the more mysteries it gives us to solve. While we’ve answered a lot of the questions we came here with, we now have a much larger set of questions to tackle.”

Jannah still wasn’t convinced. “Even with all the secrecy and cover up though, why not bring my father here to see him? He hasn’t seen Ben since he was a boy and as far as he knows he died after years of suffering at the hands of the Emperor. You guys have no idea what that’s done to him. He lost all of his best friends to the war then heard through the press that his godson was tortured and manipulated by the Emperor- that he’d been used as a puppet since he was a child by the enemy they thought they’d defeated. He told me hearing what had really happened to him was like hearing he’d gone to the dark side all over again, worse even. His own words were “At least when Ben fell to the dark side there was a small hope he could come back”. Did you not take one moment to think what that might do to him?”

The last thing Rey had expected was a lecture from her new padawan, but she had to admit everything she was saying was fair. They’d been so focused on all the changes in their own lives over the past two years that they hadn’t stopped to consider the one person still out there in the galaxy who’d known Ben growing up. 

It suddenly hit Rey there’d been more than a few reasons they’d needed to keep Ben hidden from the world as they figured out the mysteries of the Force and his existence. His physical safety hadn’t been the only thing that needed protecting- his reaction to hearing the news about Jannah had been enough proof of that.

“The thing is…” Rey did her best to find the words to make her friends see why they’d kept so much hidden. “It’s not just the mysteries of Ben’s existence that have made us hide the truth from people. There’s more reasons we needed to be out here so far away from everything while we studied the Force together. Ben has a lot to heal from after his time trapped on the dark side. Palpatine and Snoke tortured him and twisted his mind against him from as early as he could remember. He was made to do terrible things, things we couldn’t even dream of. Each time he’s met someone from his past the guilt and pain of everything he did comes back as fresh as ever and it nearly destroys him. The day he found out you’d been taken as a stormtrooper he just about lost his mind from the guilt of it. We’ve had to bring him back to the real world small steps at a time. If we’d tried to do it all right away, that would be far too much for him to handle all at once.”

Rey hadn’t put that into words out loud yet, but it was something she’d been slowly recognizing over the past year or so. Going into exile had been the best thing for Ben after all he’d been through. She was thankful the galaxy had given them that chance. 

Jannah sat silently thinking over all Rey had said. Eventually she sighed and spoke back up. “I guess… wow… it’s hard to argue with that. I hate to say hadn’t really thought about it from Ben’s perspective. If I’d been forced to do all he’d been made to do, I’d have probably thrown myself out of an airlock the first chance I got.” 

Rey didn’t like to think about that possibility, but had to admit she knew what she meant. She didn’t mean to say her next words out loud, but they came out all the same. “The mysteries of healing the human mind can be just as much of a challenge as balancing the Force.”

“That I understand perfectly.” Jannah replied. As an ex-stormtrooper, Jannah was no stranger to the effects of living with trauma. But to live with guilt of all he’d done on top of it? She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. There was only one thing she could think to say. “The fact that he’s still here after all that… it’s a testament to his strength as a person.”

Rey breathed a sigh of relief as she began to see Jannah understood what she was talking about. She still felt a sharp pang of guilt over not telling Lando that Ben was alive, but knew he’d understand in time once they’d been able to explain all that had happened. 

Another thought came to her- the one thought none of them wanted to say out loud but the one she knew she needed to be the most clear about. “Make no mistake, if Ben had been ready to reach out to Lando I have no doubt he would have. With all that he did, the one thing that weighs heaviest on his soul was taking his own father’s life. The shame and guilt from that will haunt him for the rest of his days. I’m sure every time he thinks of seeing his godfather again he remembers he took his best friend from him and he goes through the cycle of pain and mourning all over again. I’m sure one day he will be ready, but he may need a little more time before he can do that.”

Jannah bit her lip as she chose her next words carefully. She wanted to be clear as to what her father had been heartbroken about all this time. She figured she'd better get it all out at once. “The day the news came out about how Palpatine had been manipulating him, we’d recently found out our connection and had been spending time getting to know each other again. For a couple of weeks I’d been going over to his place once in a while to make dinner. The night the news hit it was like he had seen a thousand ghosts all at once. Everything that had happened to Ben finally all made sense to him." 

Rey hadn't expected Jannah to open up like this so soon, but was thankful she felt comfortable doing so. The sense of connection they already shared was becoming clearer than ever. 

After pausing to think a moment, Jannah went on. “He kept saying over and over he’d never been able to believe the news about what happened to Han. He knew Ben never would have done that of his own choosing. He knew there had to be more going on. And then hearing Ben had died right after coming back to the light- we sat and talked about it a long time. He finally said “I wish I could have seen him just one more time. Tell him how proud Han was of him. How he wouldn’t want him to live with guilt of all he’d done. How he’d want him to go on and make the kind of life for himself he wanted to live.” I don’t know what Ben thinks will happen when he sees my father again, but he doesn’t hold any of what he did against him. If anything, he can’t imagine how painful that must have been for him. He feels terrible he wasn’t able to be there for him more, to see any of it coming.”

Rey’s heart felt heavy hearing those last words. She’d heard that more than once by now. “That tends to be what everyone who knew him growing up feels.... It’s a tragedy all around, one none of them ever saw coming.”

Janah didn’t know what else to say to that, but something in her heart told her she needed to meet her long lost godbrother soon. Though she didn’t remember him at all from her past, she knew that’s what her father would have wanted had he been there- to see his daughter and godson reunited. After all Lando had done for her after the war, she was determined she was going to figure out how to reunite Ben and her father someday. “Where is Ben by the way?” she finally asked.

Poe spoke up to answer that one. “He’s up at the Tico’s hut with Rose and the kiddos. We decided we’d better check in with you guys before the whole reunion took place.”

Beaumont smiled. “Good instinct.”

“Wait… kiddos?” Jannah asked “As in there’s more than one?”

Rey realized they’d left out that important detail. “Yes… Finn and Rose aren’t the only ones that have started a family since the end of the war.”

“So you’ve had a baby too?!” Jannah asked stunned. 

“Not just one.” Rey said smiling. “Twins. Twin girls.”

“Wow… you guys really have had your hands full out here.” Beaumont laughed. 

“You have no idea.” Rey said with a sigh. 

“Well that settles that.” Jannah spoke back up. “Now you have to go get Ben and Rose. Three babies we’ve yet to meet, you guys have really been holding out on us.”

“Before we do that I still have one quick question.” Beaumont said, unable to hold back.

Rey looked at him puzzled. “What’s that?”

“Will you please tell me where in the galaxy you found nine more ancient texts?!”

Rey laughed. She knew that had to have been bugging him since she'd first told him about the texts. “We’ll get to that eventually. That’s a pretty long story all on it’s own.”

*****

Ben, Rey and Rose walked don the hill together, each with a baby in tow. Rey could sense Ben's anxiety growing with every step. Since they’d come together on Tatooine, he’d yet to meet someone who’s existence and history had drawn up so many emotions for him. Rey wanted to take his hand, but while carrying a baby down hill that wasn’t an option. She reached out through their bond to let him know it would be ok. 

_It’s going to be fine sweetheart. Jannah and I spoke for a while already. She’s more than up to speed on all that’s been going on with us. She is truly excited to meet you. ___

_You’re sure about that? ___

_Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be? ___

_I can think of more than a few reasons why she wouldn’t be excited to see me. ___

Rey stopped for a moment, realizing she needed to talk to Ben alone before they got down there.

“Rose go on ahead without us, tell them we’ll be down in a second. I know Jannah and Beaumont can’t wait to meet Owan.”

“Heard. See you guys in a bit!” Rose said smiling as she turned to head down the hill. By now she more than understood when Rey said they needed a moment, it was for a good reason. 

As Rose disappeared down the path Rey shifted Ilaria to her other hip and turned to face her husband.

“Sweetheart…” She said looking up at him, “I know this is going to be hard for you, but for your sake try and take all those reasons you think Jannah has to hate you and let go of them as best you can. Thoughts like that don’t serve you nor are they true. We had a deep and meaningful conversation just now about all we’ve all been through and I’m telling you she truly looks forward to meeting you.”

Ben sighed looking back up the hill. “I know you’re right, in my head I know you’re right, but it’s hard to convince the other parts of me to listen. It’s just… a little hard to believe that after all she’s been through that she’d want anything to do with me.”

Rey thought about it for a moment. “If you can’t believe those things for yourself just yet, can you do your best to believe them for me? Just fake it until you’re able to believe it yourself if you have to?”

Ben shifted Hannah to is other hip as she tried to reach out and play with her sister. “That’s… um… that’s a little confusing but- yeah I guess so. I’ll do my best to fake it untill I can believe it too.”

“Great.” Rey said smiling. She knew once Ben saw how ready Jannah was to meet him all of those thoughts would melt away, or at least start to melt away. She looked back down the hill towards their hut. “We’d better not keep them waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the few days without an update! I received an early copy of the TROS novelization and have been tearing through it the past few days. Looks like there's a few minor details I'll have to go back and change in the story, but over all if feels like I've got most things right so far. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but I think it's safe to say the future is looking bright for our OTP in canon. ❤️
> 
> One detail I will share from the novel is Poe admires the heck out of Lando's capes. That felt so perfectly in tune with his character that I had to include it in our story.
> 
> Another reason for the delay was I hit a bit of writers block with this chapter since so many angles are going into this reunion. I actually re-wrote it a couple of times to make sure I got it just right. I hope this feels like an authentic reunion between all of our charecters so far, and that you all look forward to the rest of this story as much as I do!


	66. Old Stories, New Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends are reunited, lost history is revealed, and stories of the past delight our group of friends as they look toward a future very much worth celebrating.

Seeing Ben come in through the door, Jannah could sense the immense fear that gripped him about meeting her. Though he was doing his best to hide it, the pain and regret Rey had mentioned were burning inside of him as clear as day. Without thinking, Jannah knew immediately what she needed to do.

As if on autopilot, her feet carried her over to him. Without a word she hugged him like she would have hugged any friend she hadn’t seen in years. Though she couldn’t remember having ever met him, their families shared decades of history and their much younger selves had known each other as friends. Not being able to remember that didn’t make it any less true. 

Their hug was interrupted when Hana reached up from her father’s arms and tugged on Jannah’s curls. 

“Oh you like those?” Jannah laughed as she pulled away, doing her best to untwist her hair from the surprisingly strong grip of her chubby baby fingers. She looked right back at Ben. “I’m so glad you’re here, Ben. Really I am.” It was all she could think to say, and it was all that needed to be said.

Ben’s lip shook for a moment as he tried to think of how to respond. He wiped his eyes as he did his best to steady himself. 

“I’m really glad you’re here too. It’s great to see you, after all these years.” He was able to say with a smile. He’d never expected the kind of forgiveness he’d just been given, but by now he knew how to receive such a gift. The pain and agony of the past could be much more easily put to rest when someone was so eager and ready to see his true self. 

Hana suddenly reached out for Jannah to hold her, excited to meet their new friend. 

“I thought you’d never ask sweetheart!” Jannah said as she took her. “What is this little angel’s name?” She asked looking back at Ben. 

“Hana” Ben replied. The emotion in his voice told Jannah everything she needed to know, confirming everything she’d suspected about what he’d been going through. 

She looked back down at the cherubic face smiling up at her, made all the more adorable by how it was framed by her father’s dark curls. “Well that’s the most beautiful name I’ve ever heard.” Jannah said. She reached back up with her free arm to hug Ben one more time. “We’ve got a hell of a lot of catching up to do, you and I.” She whispered. 

“I look forward to it.” He whispered back. 

Rey did her best to hold back tears watching their reunion. The calm she felt coming over Ben was everything she’d hoped for him in that moment. She wasn’t the only one who’d been affected by what was taking place. She sensed strong emotion radiating from Finn… and… even a little from Poe? Though he’d never admit to such a thing. 

It wasn’t lost on any of them just how much this reunion meant both for the two people standing in front of them, and for what it represented for the galaxy as a whole. Though Ben and Jannah had been born to families who were as close as any could be, the last time they’d been on the same planet it had been on opposite sides of a war- one on the run from the regime the other had risen to the top of. Now they were meeting again as old friends, just as their families would have wanted. Though their group was still far from figuring out all they’d come to the island to discover, one of the wounds of war was being healed right before their eyes. 

Ben and Jannah looked back at the group, realizing everyone was staring at them. 

“Come on in and get settled, we’ve all got a lot to talk about.” Rey said, saving them from feeling put on the spot. 

Jannah got settled on the floor with Hana to play with the other babies and Ben took the spot on the couch next to Beaumont. 

“So.. where were we…” Rey said trying to remember where they’d left off. “Remind me again what all have you two heard so far about what we’ve been up to?”

Jannah looked back at Poe. “I believe the conversation went something like 'Ben’s still alive, and he and Rey have been up to all kinds of madness in the Force. They’ll have to explain it all themselves once we get to the island.' ” 

It was about as much as Rey had expected. “Right…” She said “Where to begin…” 

“Where you two found nine additional ancient texts written in Sith would be a solid start.” Beaumont reminded her. 

“Perfect… we’ll start there.” She went on to explain the vergence in the cave below the island, how it could transport people through space and time. She recalled how it had shown them a vision of their past lives, starting with their lives as Jeshan and Layna- The last librarians of Ancient Kaleth before it’s destruction.

“Wait- you actually _saw ___Kaleth? With your own eyes?” Beaumont interrupted her.

“Yes... Ben and I both did.” She knew how profound that news would be for him.

“So it was real…” Beaumont said, leaning back into the couch as he stared off lost in thought. The emotion Rey sensed from him reminded her of how she’d felt when Han had first told her the Force was real. 

“Is… that a big deal?” Poe asked, confused as to why a library existing would come as a shock.

Beumont explained. “What Rey’s just told me is the first confirmation any modern scholar has had of the library of Kaleth ever existing. Kaleth is a myth as far as modern academics are concerned. The Je’daii of Tython are just seen as legends, stories people tell children about a magical time when the Force was balanced. There’s no real evidence of such a time or place ever existing- other than what Rey and Ben have apparently seen for themselves.”

“…and these texts.” Rey said, going over to the trunk they’d constructed for the texts safekeeping. She turned off the dehumicoil that provided a protective field from the island’s humidity and brought one out for Beaumont to study. 

“So everything we read in your original nine texts… the parts about Tython that I told you were just myth... It was all real.” He couldn’t believe what he was saying. 

“Right down to the hook hawks that live along Tythos ridge.” Ben replied, remembering how detailed the texts had been about local wildlife. “It’s true. All of it.”

“But wait…” Something about it didn’t add up for Beaumont. “Legend says that Kaleth burned when Force users spilt in two, that all of its knowledge was lost. How did you get a hold of these? Did you just walk into a vision and grab the first nine you saw?”

“That’s the next part of the story….” Rey replied. She went on to explain what happened next- what they’d seen of the war that struck the planet, how Jeshan was killed by fellow dark users, how Layna had taken his texts and buried them in the cave, and how Rey and Ben had found them soon after their vision.

Finally she came to what all they’d learned since finding them. “As we’ve studied these it’s become clear these nine light and dark texts were meant to find each other. Somehow the light nine survived for Luke to find, and Ben and I completed the collection by finding the nine dark texts. As we’ve studied them together we’re beginning to understand how the darkness and light are meant to work as two parts of a whole, not against each other as they have been for centuries. Through our training with Finn we’ve confirmed that to be true. The three of us are remarkably more powerful when we study all aspects of the Force, rather than just one side of it.”

“So, what you’re saying…” Beaumont made sure to clarify. “You’re not actually here to reestablish the Jedi order. You’re here to reestablish an order that was lost thousands of years ago- that up until now was just thought to be a myth?”

“Exactly.” Rey replied. She knew how outlandish it all sounded, yet everything they’d seen and the texts they'd found proved otherwise. The Force was ready to be rebalanced, and the eight people sitting in that room had all they needed to begin doing so. 

“Great…” Jannah said, unsure whether to be overwhelmed or thrilled by the prospect of something so profound. “When do we get started?”

“We should probably get started with where you two are going to sleep tonight.” Poe said, bringing them all back down to the reality of the present moment. “Have the construction droids finished their hut yet?” He asked, turning to Finn. 

“Finished this morning, right on schedule.” Finn replied.

“Gotta love droid work ethic.” Poe noted. “Alright, whoever’s not got a baby can help get them moved in, and then we can all get set up for a cook out at the firepit tonight.”

“Yes!” Rey cheered. Cookouts by the fire pit were quickly becoming her favorite Ahch To tradition. 

*****

Firelight illuminated the faces around her as Rey reflected on all that had happened that day. Their friends had arrived from the capital, Ben had reunited with his godsister, they’d filled them both in on all that had been happening in their lives the past two years, and the galaxy’s foremost expert on ancient languages had learned that Kaleth and all its lost mysteries were very real. Even for their unpredictable life on Ahch To, it had been a full day. 

Her heart glowed along with the fire as she watched Ben, Jannah, and Chewie catching up. The three sat together across the fire pit from the others, swapping stories about the Solo and Calrissian families. Between what Ben remembered from his childhood, what Jannah had learned from Lando after reconnecting, and all that Chewie could fill in they had plenty to share. 

The group listened and laughed together as they recalled old family war stories and the adventures of two smugglers who were just as much friends as rivals. The story of how Han won the Falcon in a poker match was an instant classic. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Ben remembered Lando holding Jannah at a festival and telling her the legend of the Portals to the Ancestors. It was a story told throughout the galaxy by parents to their children about how no matter what happened or where their life took them, their ancestors would always be watching over them and keeping them safe.

Rey suddenly turned to look behind her as she sensed a familiar presence. The darkness of an empty plaza was all that stared back at her. Her mentor hadn’t chosen to reveal herself, not this time. Perhaps that was because she was joined by another who couldn’t reveal himself in the Force. Perhaps she wanted to take in the sight of Ben and Jannah catching up without being noticed. Rey had a feeling it was a little of both. 

She looked back at Ben and Jannah to realize Ben had paused at the end of his story. He and Jannah were both looking in the same direction Rey had been, having sensed the same thing she had. It had become clear to all of them that family was indeed watching over them this evening.

Mistaking the pause for a lull in conversation, Poe spoke up. 

“So… some of you have already heard Zorii and I have some big news to share.” He reached out and took her hand, letting her know she should be the one to say it. 

Zorii glowed as she looked at him. “We’re engaged!” 

The group erupted in cheers of excitement that echoed off the huts throughout the plaza. 

“Our first Ahch To Wedding!” Rose cried. “Oh this will be so exciting!”

“So what are you two thinking?” Rey asked. “Something small with just our group? Or maybe get the locals involved and make it a big shindig?”

“Ohhh I hadn’t thought of that…” Zorii said, remembering the caretakers monthly parties with the tribe from the neighboring island. “That could actually be a lot of fun. Maybe we do both- A small ceremony in the temple then big celebration down on the beach afterwards?”

“Yeah? That’s how you want to do it?” Poe asked.

“Heck yeah!” She replied enthusiastically. “The bigger the party the better! Let’s do this!”

Poe kissed her hand and smiled. “That settles it then. What the lady wants the lady gets. Intimate ceremony in the temple followed by party on the beach with the Ahch Toians till dawn.” 

“I wonder how Ahch Toians celebrate weddings…” Rose mused. “I’m sure they have their own sets of traditions…”

“If it’s anything like how they welcome new babies I’m sure it will be big.” Ben said with a laugh.

“That’s the truth.” Rose said, remembering how stunned she was to get a hoard of well wishers right after Owans birth, just as Rey had with her twins. 

“Whatever they decide to do, I’m sure it will be perfect.” Zorii said confidently.

Rey loved seeing how excited Zorii was to plan and celebrate her wedding. She’d come a long way from the woman who’d feared she’d ever be the kind of partner she wanted to be. Rey could sense from the excitement and love that beamed from both Zorii and Poe that this was something both had dreamed of for a long time, but had taken a while to figure out how to get themselves to a place where they were ready to be who they were born to be. She knew exactly how that felt, and couldn’t wait to celebrate this next chapter with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a big Ahch To wedding! Yay!


	67. Family Traditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Zorii celebrate their wedding with their friends, followed by a huge party on the beach with the locals. The newlyweds are soon surprised by a wedding gift that traveled a long way to be delivered. 
> 
> Suggested listening- Music will be provided for the wedding in the form of a special hymn sung by Ben and Rey. I've found a piece with a similar style hymn to what I think it would have sounded like. Just imagine a duet instead of a whole group like what's in the video. When you get to the wedding scene, the text will include a link to it if you'd like to listen while reading. ❤️
> 
> If you'd like to hear what Ben and Rey's singing voices would sound like, here's a few links-  
> Daisy Ridley singing Moon River. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svhoyGL4sHA  
> Adam Driver as Charlie in Marriage Story singing Being Alive- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWengrlMpok

Ben and Rey did their best to get their one year old twins dressed in the white dresses Rey had made for Poe and Zorri’s special day. The finishing touch was a pair of flower crowns Ben had twisted together with wildflowers and sea grass picked from the hillsides near the village. As Rey got one of the flower crowns fastened in Ilaria’s thick locks, she realized they’d better wait until right before the ceremony to pin them in for good. Wiggly babies might not allow the delicate creations to make it long enough to be worn for the ceremony. 

“Ben, come watch me do this.” She called to him from the bedroom. He joined her with Hana and watched intently as she showed him how to make sure the circlets of greenery were secure. “Think you can handle that?” She asked as she finished.

“I think so… I should probably practice while I’ve got you here though.” He did his best to re-attach them once more on both girls to make sure he had it down. The sight of Ben mastering pinning flowers into their daughter’s hair was one Rey made sure to commit to memory, and looked forward to enjoying again in years to come. 

Soon after the babies were dressed they put on their new masters robes. Using the set Luke had left behind, they’d designed new sets for themselves with one major difference. Instead of being made from white linen, they were sewn from rich grey linen to signify the balance they sought for their order. Rey realized she’d never felt more like herself than in the matching grey robes she and Ben now wore, and instantly sensed the same feeling coming from Ben. Of all the styles they’d worn during their various phases as Force users, they’d finally found something that felt like it fit the people they truly were. 

Once they were ready, they each slung on a baby wrap on and headed up the hill with their girls to meet their friends. Rey took Ilaria to the Dameron’s hut where Zorri was getting ready and Ben took Hana to join the guys at the Tico’s hut. 

“Wait till you see her!” Rose gushed excitedly as she greeted Rey at the door. “She looks like an absolute goddess!” 

“Goddess is right…” Rey said upon seeing her friend. Zorii glowed in the white dress they’d all worked on together over the past few months. Intricate embroidery accented with the tiniest seashells framed her delicate figure from head to toe. Rey couldn’t remember having seen someone wear something so beautiful in all her life. For a brief moment she sensed there may have been more to her radiant appearance than just excitement over the occasion. 

“I’d stand up to give you a hug but I’m literally tied down at the moment.” Zorii laughed. 

“Good instinct.” Jannah replied standing behind her. Zorii was seated in front of Jannah who was working on twisting and pinning half her curls up into a crown on top her head, adding wildflowers here and there as she went along. The rest of her curls cascaded down her back, with the open back of her dress framing them perfectly. Rey was glad they had Jannah there to help get Zorii’s look just right. She had a hard enough time styling her own straight hair, and knew she’d have never been able to do justice to the bounty of curls Zorii was blessed with. 

An hour later 3P0 knocked at the door. “I’m sorry to disturb you ladies but the gentleman wanted me to check and see how soon you would be ready to go to the temple for the ceremony.”

“We’ll be ready soon!” Rey assured him. “Tell them to go ahead and head up there. We won’t be far behind.”

*****

 **Suggested Listening** \- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7M5ZqFSynQ

Finn stood a few feet in front of the steps that led out to the temple’s ledge, going over his notes for the ceremony he was about to lead. This was the second wedding he’d ever attended, his own wedding being the first. As a general he was the only one in the group with the legal authority to perform a marriage, yet Poe had assured him as his best friend he couldn’t imagine anyone else in the galaxy doing the honor for them. 

“You nervous at all man?” Ben asked Poe, remembering how he’d felt right before his own impromptu wedding. 

Poe sighed. “No way man. Not at all. I’ve been waiting for this a long, long time.”

Ben smiled back at Finn. There was no fooling the two Force sensitive friends. The tension they each sensed coming from the groom reminded them of the moments before they’d exchanged vows with their own wives. There were few things in the galaxy like waiting to be joined with the woman of your dreams. Worrying that everything would go perfectly for her was a natural part of that. 

Ben, Chewie, and Beaumont stood to the left of Poe with their four droids standing off at a distance. The droids would be the only guests as everyone else present was in the wedding party. Finn and Poe were dressed nearly identically in their formal general’s uniforms, except for the custom addition Poe had made to his. During their time at the capital he’d had a cape tailored to match his uniform. It was hardly standard for a general to wear a cape as part of a uniform, but being that he was now a top general of the Galactic Republic, he figured he was allowed to introduce a few new rules about military fashion. 

The men went silent as they heard women’s voices enter the temple. Hushed giggles echoed through the stone hallway that led from the entrance to the large open space. Poe waited for what felt like an eternity for someone to appear in the stone archway. When someone finally did appear, he wished the ancient space had better lighting. The shadowy interior made it difficult to see who it was. 

After a moment he was able to recognize it was Rey. As she joined Ben they handed off the twins to Chewie, and together made their way up to stand on the steps behind Finn. Standing together in the stone archway, they looked to 3PO who played them a pitch to get started. Their twins stared back at them in wonder as their voices filled the space with an Alderaanian wedding hymn that Leia had taught them. Their flowing acapellla melody would be the only music the ceremony featured, and yet it was perfect for their small gathering. 

Rose and Jannah came into the temple carrying flowers they’d picked from the hillside the day before. Rose made sure to hold her flowers to the side to prevent Owan from snacking on them as he’d tried to on their walk up. 

When the two women took their places to the right of the group, Zorii finally made her entrance.

Emotions swelled in her chest as she made her way towards the front of the temple, surrounded by her friend’s voices filling the cavernous space. The only thing more beautiful than the sound of the two of them singing perfectly in harmony was the love that beamed back at her from her soon-to-be husband. The look on his face and the love in her heart told her she’d finally found the life she’d always dreamed about. 

As Zorii came around the newly finished mosaic, the sunlight of the twin suns shone through the archway behind Ben and Rey, illuminating her from head to toe. Poe instantly felt his breath taken away by the sight of her. He hadn’t felt this nervous since his first battle as a Resistance Pilot, but this time it was for a far more joyful reason. He was about to be joined forever with his soul mate. Even better, they were surrounded by a group of people that had come to be family. 

Zorii took her place next to Poe and handed her flowers back to Jannah. Without needing to be told to do so the bride and groom instinctively joined hands. They soaked up the moment together as the wedding hymn went through its final verse and came to an end. After they finished singing Ben and Rey took their places back among their friends.

Finn took a deep breath, readying himself to begin. “You two ready to do this?” He asked with a smile.

“I’ve never been more ready for anything.” Zorii replied, unable to take her eyes off Poe. 

Finn was soon surprised to feel himself leading the ceremony like a seasoned pro. He hadn’t thought Jedi training would help with performing a wedding ceremony, but his ability to center his emotions and thoughts in front of a group of people was certainly helpful. Just under a half hour later they came to the part the couple had been waiting for. 

“By the power vested in me by the Galactic Republic, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Poe took Zorii in his arms and dipped her in as dramatic of a kiss as could be expected of the two of them. Their friends erupted into cheers and claps that echoed through out the temple. 

Down on the beach several caretakers who were setting up for the evening heard cheering echoing from the temple above. They quickened their pace as they continued their work, knowing they needed to hurry to get the beach ready for all the festivities they had planned.

*****

As soon as darkness fell, the beach on the island came alive. Pipes and drums churned out enthusiastic melodies as locals danced traditional dances to the tunes they knew well. Several bonfires raged along shore, reflecting in the waves that washed along the stony beach. Poe and Zorii sat together in a large greenery covered chair the locals had constructed for the guests of honor. The native Ahch Toians had heard the need for a party, and they’d more than delivered. They’d even invited musicians and dancers from several tribes from the other islands nearby. The beach on Ahch To had never been so full of celebration.

As soon as Rey made sure her presence wouldn’t be missed, she slipped away and headed up to her hut to retrieve something she’d been hiding for a couple of weeks. When she got back to the beach, she gathered their friends around Poe and Zorii so they could watch the newlyweds open it. 

“What’s this?” Poe asked as she handed him a box. The last thing he’d expected were wedding gifts from friends who lived so remotely. 

“It’s a wedding gift from your father.” Rey explained. “He had it sent to the island a few weeks back. He didn’t tell us what it was, but did mention it has something to do with a Dameron family tradition.”

“Did you know about this?” Poe asked looking at Zorii. 

“A little.” Zorii said with a smile. “I have no idea what it is though. Go ahead and open it!”

Poe opened the box and his heart instantly melted at the sight of a small sapling inside. He knew exactly where it came from. A holomessage was included which he flipped on right away. A hologram of his father Kes Dameron lit up before them. 

“Son, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you today. From the time I got to spend with you and Zorii in the capital I can tell she’s a phenomenal woman. I know your mother would have loved her as much as I do had she got the chance to meet her.”

“Oh Gods…” Poe muttered, unable to hide the fact that he had to wipe tears from his eyes. 

His father’s message went on. “By now I’m sure you’ve guessed where this sapling came from. It’s grown from one of the seeds I collected from the force sensitive tree in our family’s garden- the tree Master Luke gave your mother and I as a gift for our wedding years ago. That tree grew in our garden through many happy years of my and your mother’s life together. I hope this tiny sapling does the same for you and Zorii during your life on Ahch To together. I'm sorry I couldn't be there today, but more than understand the importance and secrecy of all that you and your friends are working on. I love you so much Son. May the Force be with you two as you create a brighter future for the Galaxy together.”

“You guys will love this part.” Poe said to Rey and Ben as the message came to an end. “The tree my dad was talking about- it was grown from a fragment of the Jedi tree from the temple on Coruscant. My mother and Luke recovered the last surviving pieces of it during a mission together. This little tree is descended from a piece of Jedi history.” He marveled at the delicate leaves as he thought about it for a moment. “Anyone know of a good spot for planting a tree on this island? We’ve had to add soil in most spots just to be able to grow food.”

“I can think of only one…” Rey said, remembering the mighty husk of a tree that had once stood where now only a burned stump remained. If the soil there had been rich enough to support such a large tree, it would be perfect for the new sapling to set roots in.

*****

A few days later the group of friends gathered around the hole they’d dug to plant Poe and Zorii’s wedding gift. Chewie’s wookie strength had come in handy removing and chopping up the enormous old stump, the remains of which had been mulched and mixed in with the soil to help fertilize new growth. 

A thought dawned on Ben as he and Poe finished patting the dirt around the tiny tree. “You said this tree was descended from the Jedi tree on Coruscant, right?”

“That’s right.” Poe replied as they stood up and dusted off. 

“There’s an old story about that tree and where it came from” Ben said, remembering the story from his childhood. “The Jedi tree on Coruscant was originally planted at the ancient temple on Ossus. When the Jedi moved their order from Ossus to Coruscant they took the tree with them. In our visions we saw the first Force users on Ossus were from Tython, just like the first force users on Ahch To. They both would have brought the Ossus and the Ahch To trees from Tython. This sapling may be related to the tree that once stood here.”

“Huh…” Poe said, realizing what that meant. “Very fitting...”

“Very fitting indeed.” Ben replied, looking down at the tree’s tiny leaves that reached bravely for the heavens. 

Rey uncorked a large flask of water to give the tree its first drink in its new home. 

“The one that grew here before was absolutely enourmous. Do you guys think this one will grow to be as big as that one?” She asked, hopefully.

“I’m sure it will, maybe even bigger.” Ben said, sensing the strength in the small tree as its roots took hold in the soil. The tiny roots eagerly drank up the water that soaked the ground around them. 

“Definitely bigger.” Poe added. “With all of us looking after it, this little tree has a bright future ahead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note on canon- The tree Poe's father talks about in their family garden and the story behind it are canon. Luke and Poe's mother Shara found two fragments of the Coruscant Jedi tree on a mission together. Luke gifted one of the fragments to the Damerons who planted it in their garden.
> 
> The story Ben tells about the Jedi Tree on Coruscant is canon as well. It was originally planted on Ossus, and eventually taken to Coruscant.
> 
> Several hints in canon lead us to believe Ossus and Ahch To were settled by people from Tython. We don't have confirmation of that, but looking at the texts in the TROS visual dictionary it is heavily hinted in captions about the Jedi texts.
> 
> Not much is said of what happened to Luke's fragment of the original Jedi tree. I'd bet my money on him having planting it as his temple. Since the temple and everything around it burned the night Ben fled, it's safe to say that tree wouldn't have made it. The only likely surviving descendant of the Coruscant Jedi tree is the Dameron's tree.
> 
> I wouldn't be surprised if one day we see our crew planting a sapling from the Dameron's tree to replace the Ahch To tree in canon. It's just too perfect of a story twist to be ignored...


	68. A Change Of Scenery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey take their padawans down to the cave to attempt to navigate the World Between Worlds again. As always with the Force, things don't go quite like they expect.

Ben and Rey sat on their deck one evening, watching the girls toddling back and forth behind the railing as the suns set over the ocean. The twins favorite after dinner activity was imitating their Porg neighbors just like their daddy had taught them. 

“She’s at it again.” Rey said nodding towards Jannah, who was drilling with her saber and a training remote at the end of the peninsula. 

Ben turned around to see how their padawan was doing.

“Damn…” He said, marveling at how well she flew through a particularly difficult series of shots from the remote. “Looks like all that extra practice is paying off.”

Finn may have had over a year head start in his training, but Jannah had done her best over the past several months to improve her skills as quickly as she could to catch up. Not yet having a young family of her own meant she had a lot more free time in the evenings to drill with her newly constructed lightsaber as well as meditate on all the parts of the Force that she was learning about. Though she still had a good bit of catching up to do, her skills were growing by leaps and bounds. Rey was particularly impressed with how well she’d picked up lightsaber construction and combat skills. Not that it came as any surprise- she’d been making and using her own weapons for some time. 

“She reminds me a bit of myself when I first started training here.” Rey said smiling. “Though to be fair, I caused quite a bit more damage to local rock formations with my light saber drills.”

Ben laughed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“I had a few things going on in my head at the time.” Rey said in her defense. 

“You’re welcome.” Ben replied cheekily. 

Rey looked back down at their daughters, wondering if her old self would have ever believed she’d be back in this place living the beautiful life she had with Ben. Her thoughts were interrupted as both girls stopped their cawing and caught sight of Jannah’s light saber skills up the hill. Their eyes widened as they watched the green laser beam flying through the air, wielded by the badass warrior women they’d both come to know well. After a few moments the twins looked at each other and smiled.

“Now what are you two up to…” Rey said, sensing some toddler mischief was about to take place.

Hearing his wife’s words Ben looked back at the girls just in time to see two sets of chubby hands fly out, reaching for the inside of the hut. Luke and Leia’s sabers instantly flew from the display shelf Ben and Rey had made for them and into the toddlers hands. 

“SHIT!” Ben yelled as he and Rey both jumped forward to confiscate the weapons. “Since when did they start summoning things?!”

“As of right now…” Rey replied, still in shock.

Ben sighed. “I guess toddler proofing now includes literally nothing left out anywhere.”

“Yeeeepp….” Rey agreed. She walked back into the hut and made sure there wasn’t anything else dangerous the toddlers could call upon. As she opened Ben’s trunk to lock the sabers away, she caught sight of the compass and sextant. She and Ben had been so busy over the past few months getting a new padawan up to speed that they hadn’t got to try them out again after their first attempt hadn’t gone as planned. 

After locking the sabers away she came back out and settled back into her chair. She kept an eye on the two girls as she did her best to observe Jannah’s practice session. 

“Do you think she’s ready for a trip down to the cave?” Rey asked, thinking about the navigational tools.

Ben turned around to see how the rest of Jannah’s drill was going. The remote threw everything it had at her, delivering blasts every other second and flying around at top speed to deliver them from as many angles as it could. Jannah deflected every blast as if she knew they were coming before they were fired.

“I’d say she’s more than ready.”

*****

The next morning Ben and Rey met with their padawans as usual in the Plaza, but this time they’d brought a bag of tools for the day’s adventure.

“Change of plans for today’s training routine.” Rey announced. “Jannah- you get your first trip down to the cave with us.”

“YES!” Finn cheered, excited for another adventure into the mysterious realm. 

“Is it going to show me my past life as your granddaughter and all that?!” Jannah asked excitedly.

“Maybe.” Ben said with a shrug. “We’d like to try using these tools but the Force has a mind of it’s own sometimes. If there’s something it wants to show us, it has a way of taking over.”

“Ha, yeah it does.” Finn laughed. 

“Should I be worried?” Jannah asked, suddenly unsure what she was getting into. 

Her two masters looked at each other.

“Safety wise, you have nothing to worry about.” Rey reassured her. “Emotionally… well, that’s why we’ve trained you so well over the past few months.”

*****

The four climbed up onto the shore of the cave and summoned their tools from the cave entrance above. As soon as Ben and Rey got the tools out of the bag they looked around, waiting to see if anything would prevent them from using them. The mirror portal appeared in front of them as usual, but other than that everything in the cave remained still. The World Between Worlds was going to let them chart their own path this time. 

Rey looked to her Padawans to instruct them on what to expect. “Finn, this is going to be a little different than the last time you were down here. Using a Vergence to travel into past events is different than just having visions. We’re actually going to be in the places we’re seeing. The one thing to keep in mind is others can’t see you. Force sensitives may sense your presence, but they can’t see you. Also remember not to pick up or move anything. If people see objects floating around for no reason that will alert them to our presence and who knows what might happen. Do you two have any questions?”

Finn and Jannah thought for a moment.

“You said we can pick things up- that means the physical places we’re in can affect us. Can we get hurt if we’re caught in a battle or something?” Jannah asked.

“We’re going to do our best to avoid war zones but there’s that possibility, yes. If we find ourselves somewhere dangerous we’ll leave right away.” Ben assured her. 

“So where are we headed today?” Finn asked. 

“Endor.” Rey replied, “We thought we’d go check out the end of the Galactic Civil War- see how people celebrated the first time they brought the emperor down.”

“This should be fun.” Jannah said. “Getting to see our parents when they were our age… never thought I’d get that chance.”

Together the four of them stepped through the portal. Stars and pathways stretched out in all directions as far as their eyes could see. Ben and Rey got the tools set to navigate to the moment and place in time that should take them to Endor at the end of the Galactic Civil War. Once they found where they needed to go, they took the hands of their padawans and together pulled themselves through the Force to their destination. Stars and planets flew by as they traveled back through time and space to a time none of them had ever seen. 

They felt their journey coming to an end as they were dropped in a destination. It was immediately apparent the place they found themselves in wasn’t the forests of Endor, but the inside of a ship. The hallway they were in had gone dark and alarms were going off all around them. Several Rebel fighters suddenly ran by in a panic.

“Huh…” Rey said looking down at the compass. “We must have been a little off…”

She looked back up as all four of them collectively sensed a large amount of fear filling the space. Instinctively the four of them spread out and unhooked their lightsabers from their belts, readying themselves for what might come next. A group of Rebel fighters had stopped in front of a closed door, and were staring forward into nothing but darkness in front of them.

“What are they staring at?!” Jannah asked. 

She noticed her masters were transfixed on the darkness too. They both had sensed a presence they knew well.

An ominous red lighsaber lit up darkness. All hell broke loose as the fighters opened fire. The four of them ignited their own lightsabers, deflecting any blaster shots that came their way. In the chaos that had erupted in the hallway, no one noticed blaster shots changing direction in mid air.

Darth Vader confidently strode forward, cutting through the onslaught of blaster fire. As he got to the fighters he used the Force to throw the first few fighters aside. His saber began tearing through the group like a scythe cutting through wheat. 

“Guess we went a little too far back!” Rey said, the yellow beam of her saber deflecting blaster shots with her right hand as her left reached for the legacy saber still on her belt. “Ben we need to leave-“ She looked over at him, sensing his mind was elsewhere. He was looking back towards the door the Rebels were still struggling and failing get open. “Ben?”

“My mother’s on this ship, or she’s very close…” he said, lost in thought as he deflected shots with his purple saber.

Rey realized she sensed Leia’s presence too. “I doubt she’s able to meet with us just now. Everyone here looks like they’re a little busy…”

Moments before Ben had seen a chip slip between hands through through the crack in the door. He could sense Vader’s attention was focused solely on getting to that chip. Whatever it was the Rebels were dying to protect, it was something very important. 

“You’re not curious to see what all the fuss is about?” He said looking back at Rey. The blaster shots became less and less as fighters fell. 

Rey sighed. “I think this is a bit much for our padawan’s first day visiting the past don’t you?” She looked back to Finn and Jannah. Where she had expected to see the shocked faces of her friends, two perfectly calm faces stared back at her unfazed. They each held their green sabers at the ready for whatever came next. 

“It’s fine if you two want to check and see what it is.” Finn replied. “It’s not like this is our first battle.”

“Gotta say- I prefer battles where no one can see us.” Jannah added smiling.

“Right…” Rey said, remembering just how accustomed all four of them had once been to situations like the one they’d just been thrown into. 

The four of them suddenly sensed their window of opportunity and without having to say a word to eachother, they narrowly dodged Vader and the remaining fighters as they used the Force to pull themselves through the door the moment it finally opened. Together they dodged more fighters as they sprinted through another hallway and through a second doorway right before it closed. Rey and Finn recognized the familiar environment as the door slammed behind them. 

“Is this Tantive IV?!” Finn asked, stunned by how clean and new everything around them looked.

“Guess it had seen a few things by the time it got to the Resistance.” Rey replied. 

Realizing they’d made it to safety, the four of them switched off their sabers and hooked them back on to their belts.

Ben led the way towards where he felt his mother’s presence. They made sure to stay a few steps behind a Rebellion officer in a yellow jacket who held the chip Vader had fought and failed to retrieve. Ben, Rey, and Finn felt their hearts jump as the door to the bridge opened and a much younger version of someone they knew well stood with her back to them. 

“Your highness, the transmission we received.” The Rebel officer said, handing Leia the chip. “What is it they’ve sent us?”

“Hope.” she replied, taking it from the officer and looking forward.

Ben quickly forgot their earlier advice about staying out of the way. As the ship jumped to light speed he walked around to stand right in front of his mother to get a better look at her. He couldn’t believe how young and full of life the woman was that stood in front of him. She must have been ten years younger than he was now. He always thought he looked more like his father, but the regal cheekbones and large, round eyes that stared back at him felt like looking in the mirror. The thick, dark hair was unmistakable as well, though Alderaanian traditions dictated princesses kept their hair far more reigned in than the wild mop he’d always had.

“Can’t say I remember that hairstyle.” Finn said, commenting on the buns young Leia wore on the sides of her head. 

Ben smiled “I only saw her wear her hair like that in old holograms. Dad used to tease her about it. ‘So I had a hairdo or two I later regreted?’ She’d say. Not much got under her skin.”

“I imagine not.” Rey replied. 

Leia started to say something to the pilots, then briefly looked around as she sensed something both familiar and unfamiliar. Realizing she must have imagined it, she shook whatever it was from her mind. 

Forgetting whatever she was about to say to the pilots, she walked over to a comm link on the wall and dialed in a series of coordinates. A man in a green military style cape appeared on a hologram before her.

“Guess Poe’s cape trend isn’t as original as he thinks?” Jannah whispered to Finn.

“He’ll be so disappointed.” Finn replied, trying not to laugh.

“Leia sweetheart, you have some news on your mission I take it?” The man in the hologram asked.

“Yes sir. We’ve retrieved the plans for the base and we’ll get them to the Rebellion as soon as possible. Galen Erso is supposed to have given us one shot at bringing down that monstrosity. We’re going to make the most of it.”

“I have no doubt you will.” He said smiling. 

Ben realized what they were witnessing. “Those must be the plans to the Death Star, and that must be mom's adoptive father, Bail Organa. No wonder Vader was so hell bent on getting that chip…” 

“How’s everything on Alderaan today sir?” One of the pilots asked.

“Beautiful as always.” Bail smiled. “Leia, we look forward to seeing you at home soon after the mission.”

“Of course father.” Leia said smiling. “I’ll be home soon.”

Ben’s heart dropped and Rey instantly felt his sense of dread.

“What is it sweetheart?”

“Alderaan…” He said, barely able to get the words out. “It was destroyed by the Death Star right after this. This may have been the last time she spoke to him. She never got to go home.”

Rey looked back at Leia, realizing the hopeful woman in front of them was about to lose everything she’d ever known.

“She really spent her whole life fighting.” Finn said.

“She did.” Ben replied.

“How about we try for Endor again?” Rey said, hoping to lift the spirits of the group. Visions of the past always had a way of reminding them of painful truths. Now that they had the tools they needed to navigate through time, she was determined to see something that brought joy. 

The four of them gathered together and Rey brought out the legacy saber to act as a vergence. They took hold of the saber and found themselves back in the starry expanse they’d flown through before. Rey and Ben adjusted their tools, attempting to shoot for Endor. Rey didn’t notice in her hurry to get to a happier time she clicked the compass slightly back again instead of forward. 

She realized her mistake as their next destination landed them on a beach. The four of them looked around, none of them realizing where they were. Rey’s heart jumped into her throat when she looked up in the sky and saw a familiar round outline staring ominously down at them.

“Ben...” Rey said, recognizing the Death star moments before its green lazers grouped together and fired a shot at the planet. “Is this Alderaan?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note on Canon- Hey we got some Rogue One in the story! The goal is to get at least one reference from every movie included the story. With Rogue One checked off we've just got The Empire Strikes Back left. I sure hope they make it to Endor...
> 
> The Tantive IV was Leia's consular ship in her teen years. We first saw it in ANH as Vader captured it in his attempt to get the Death Star Plans. We saw her make her escape in it at the end of Rogue One as well. It showed back up in The Rise of Skywalker as a Resistance ship. Since the Resistance were low on ships they pulled everything they had out to use. A former Imperial senator who was sympathetic to Leia's cause had recently found the ship hiding in a hangar in the Yarma system and returned it to Leia as a gift. Rose and the other Resistance engineers worked tirelessly to get it back in running order. Rey and Finn likely would have seen it and spent some time on it on Ajan Kloss. We see it flying again at the end of TROS when it leaves with the Resistance for Exegol.
> 
> Side note- For anyone with the TROS visual dictionary, check out the very subtle hint on page 104 about what colors Ben and Rey’s future sabers will be. It’s a pretty sweet reference.  
> 😉
> 
> Here' a little edit I did of Rey and Ben with their new lightsaber colors. Hope you all like it!  
> 
> 
> For anyone curious about the lightsaber color hint that doesn't have the visual dictionary- I've explained the hint in the comments.  
> 😊❤


	69. A Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey continue their travels through time with their students. While they don't reach their intended destination, they end up stumbling upon something much more important.

“No, not Alderaan…” Ben replied. The tropical climate they found themselves in didn’t match the snowy, mountainous descriptions of Alderaan he’d heard of growing up. “This is somewhere else.”

The four of them ducked out of reflex as a tall tower nearby had it’s top sheared off by the monstrous lazer beam. A golden cloud of destruction slowly bloomed on the horizon as the beam made contact with the planet.

Rey had brought the legacy saber out to leave, but found herself frozen by the scene that began to unfold in front of her. A young couple had stumbled out on the beach, just feet away from where the four of them stood. They were clearly hurt from a battle. Together collapsed to their knees by the water. 

“Your father would have been proud of you Jyn.” The man said. They took hands and looked back towards the beautiful yet horrifying cloud that continued to climb higher in the sky.

“Thank you Cassian.” Jyn replied, turning back to look at him. “Thank you for everything.”

They wrapped their arms around each other in a firm embrace as they resigned themselves to their fate. 

“Let’s get going…” Rey said. The four of them took the saber together. As the world around them began to fade Rey looked up one last time at the couple in front of them. They grasped onto each other tightly, preparing for their end that loomed closer with every second. The woman’s emotions were so strong that Rey sensed her thoughts as the scene vanished. 

“Cassian…” She said out loud, not meaning to. 

“What?” Ben asked as the dark expanse of space stretched out around them.

“The two we just saw… They cared a lot for each other. In their final moments together she was thinking of all she could have had with Cassian had their lives been different.”

“That’s… beyond heartbreaking.” Jannah said, realizing the depth of what they’d just witnessed. 

Rey pulled out the compass, ready to try one last time for a happier time. She made sure to click if forward instead of backward. As Ben got the sextant ready she spoke up again. 

“If we don’t get to Endor this time we’ll head back. These tools might need some tuning after years of not being used. Three failures to find the right moment in time will tell us what we need to know.”

A few moments later the four of them were flying through space and time again. They felt themselves come to a stop as solid walls materialized around them. This time they landed in a small bedroom that clearly wasn’t the forests of Endor. Though it wasn’t their intended destination, the scene that came to life in front of them filled Rey’s heart with just as much joy as any celebration would have. 

A very young Ben Solo sat on his bed, playing with a pile of toy planes and ships. He’d laid two pillows out to create a trench that he was flying the little planes through. He spoke for the pilots of the planes as he flew them through the trench.

“Luke! At that speed do you think you’ll be able to pull out in time?!”

“It’s just like beggars canyon back home!” 

“Pew Pew” He said as he dropped one of the planes, imitating a crash. “Oh no Luke! They’re right on you!” He warned the other tiny X wing.

He suddenly imitated an explosion, signaling the enemy had been brought down

“YAAAHOOOO!” He cheered as he brought a miniature Falcon flying into the mix. 

“Now this is a happier time.” Rey said, taking her husband’s hand. With all she’d heard of his childhood, she was thankful to see a moment where little Ben was just having fun being himself. She looked up at Ben as she sensed a bit of tension coming from him. 

The happy moment was interrupted as the four of them sensed a cold, dark presence enter the room. Little Ben’s smile dropped to a scowl. His hands began to shake in anger as he looked at the x-wing in his hand. 

“Palpatine...” Rey said in a whisper. She’d know that presence anywhere.

“Gaaaah!” Little Ben yelled as he threw the plane against the wall. The force of his rage smashed the toy into countless tiny pieces. He didn’t stop there. One by one he grabbed and threw all of the toys on the bed in every direction, yelling as he threw them as hard as he could. The Falcon flew right toward at his older self. Adult Ben snapped back and caught it in midair, stopping it right before it hit him in the face. 

“Ben?!” Leia said as she burst through the door. “Are you alright?” 

Little Ben looked up at his mother confused, unsure what had just happened.

“What happened to your toys sweetheart?” She asked coming over and sitting next to him on the bed. 

“I… I don’t know.” He looked around, dismayed at the destruction he’d just caused. “I’m sorry momma.” He said regretfully, unable to look his mother in the eye.

Leia’s face was full of concern as she ran her fingers through her son’s hair. She’d sensed the dark presence coming for him before, but had no idea what to make of it or how to protect him from it. After a moment of sitting together in silence she spoke up.

“You know, I was just about to come tell you dinner’s on the table. Do you think a full belly would make you feel better?”

“Yeah.” Little Ben said, a slight smile coming over him as he looked up at his mother. 

“I thought so.” She said, kissing his cheek then standing up. “You better run and get it while it’s still hot. I made your favorite.”

“Yes!” He cheered, jumping off the bed and running out the door. His favorite meal was all he needed to forget whatever had just come over him. 

Leia’s smile faded as she stood alone in his bedroom, looking around at all the broken toys. Rey sensed a level of fear in her that she’d never sensed before from her mentor. Leia grabbed a waste basket and swept the toys up as quickly as she could. It was clear it was something she’d done before. 

When she left the room Rey heard her husband let out a heavy sigh. 

“Oh honey, I’m sorry...” She said, unsure what else there was to say. 

“It’s alright.” He replied. “It’s nothing new.”

“He came for you that young?” Jannah asked, shocked by what she’d just witnessed.

Ben looked back at the door his mother had just left through a second ago. “He came for me as early as I could remember, since before I was born according to mom. The older I got, the stronger it got.”

“I think it’s time we head back.” Rey said looking at her compass. “It’s clear these tools could use some tuning.”

“Agreed.” Ben said. 

Rey brought out the legacy saber and together the four of them envisioned themselves back in the cave. Moments later the felt themselves being pulled through time across the galaxy. They soon found themselves in the dark cavernous space they knew well.

*****

Heading up the hill together Rey knew just what they needed to work through the weight of the events they’d just witnessed.

“Who’s up for some sparring to blow off steam?”

“That sounds perfect.” Ben replied looking up the hill.

Together they made their way to the peninsula that stretched out from the village, their favorite spot on the island to train with sabers. It was one of the few spots that had enough flat land to move around that also featured views of the ocean in all directions. 

The fresh ocean breezes that blew in from the horizon refreshed their spirits as they got to their destination. 

“Make sure your containment fields are turned up for sparring.” Rey reminded their students. She knew from experience coming right from the heat of battle into practicing made it easy to forget details like safety measures, especially for new students. Had she remembered to do so during her first drill with Luke’s saber on Ahch To, she wouldn’t have sliced through the ancient rock formation that now stood a few feet shorter. 

The masters paired up with their students to face off- Ben with Finn and Rey with Jannah as usual. After seeing how well Jannah’s drill had gone the night before, Rey couldn’t wait to see what she had to throw at her.

An hour or two of sparring turned out to be just what the group needed to make the days training a success. After the disappointment of not reaching their destination in the cave, the physical exertion of sparring together was just what they needed to feel back on track. 

“Anything else you two want to work on before we call it a day?” Rey asked as they took a break.

“Actually… I’d really like to watch you and Ben go at it for a bit if you wouldn’t mind giving a demonstration.” Jannah spoke up. “And not just showing us training drills for us to practice. I want to see what you two can really do. I think it’s time Finn and I see how the pros do it.”

Finn smiled. He hadn’t wanted to be the first to ask, but had been anxiously hoping to see the two spar together for a while. 

Ben and Rey had been keeping their training sessions together on the opposite end of the island out of sight from the rest of the crew since Rey had been able to spar again. When Rey had began building her strength back up after pregnancy, she didn’t want the distraction and pressure of anyone watching her train. She’d become so used to the solitude she preferred it, and chose to keep their routine to themselves. Since getting re-accustomed to her saber, the only souls who’d witnessed the two of them sparring together had been porgs. 

With Jannah’s encouragement though, she found herself ready to try sparring at each other's level with an audience. 

“You up for that?” Ben asked to make sure. 

“I think I can handle it.” Rey said, smiling as she looked back over the field of grass.

A few minutes later Finn and Jannah watched as their masters danced across the peninsula, yellow and purple blades clashing like a choreographed dance. They way they flowed together as one unit was fierce and powerful, as well as one of the most graceful things they’d ever seen. 

A particularly strong breeze hit Jannah’s face and thought struck her that gave her chills. Finn sensed her thoughts wandering.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Do you remember the last time we saw them really go at it?”

Finn couldn’t remember a time they’d given a full out demonstration. “How do you mean?”

“I mean up till now they’ve just shown us training moves and demonstrated drills. The last time we saw them face off against each other with sabers giving it all they had was on Kef Bir.”

“Wow, you’re right…” Finn thought about it for a moment. They’d only witnessed a few moments of it, but that fight had been so powerful, so awe inspiring to watch. Rey and Kylo Ren had thrown everything they had at each other, and the forces of Kef Bir had been thrown into chaos as a result. He realized what Jannah was thinking about- something was missing. It was all so restrained, too restrained. Something didn’t feel right. 

“Do you feel like they’re holding back?” Jannah asked, taking the words right out of his mouth. 

“Yeah… it’s impressive but, there’s something missing. I know they’re capable of more than this.”

“Think they’re holding back for our sake?”

“You’re probably right.” Finn said with a smile. That had to be it. “Ok you two-“ He yelled to his masters. “Enough trying to not show off. We appreciate the gesture but we want to see what you can really do.”

Ben and Rey paused for a moment. Had their padawans really seen through them that easily?

 _Might as well give them what they want. ___Rey smiled coyly as she spoke through their bond.

 _You don’t have to ask me twice. ___Ben replied.

Jannah and Finn felt a surge in the Force as their masters prepared to take things up a notch and push the limits of what they could really do. 

Suddenly the graceful dance they’d been witnessing became an explosion of energy. Rey knelt and instantly pounced back up, back flipping on to the cliffed outcropping of rocks at the end of the peninsula. Ben sprinted and jumped, flying through the air to join her. Winds swirled around them and waves crashed violently below as their sabers came together in a dance that was equally as graceful as before, but far more intricate and far more powerful. 

Finn and Jannah jumped to their feet, moved by the sight of what was taking place in front of them. They could feel the grass beneath them strengthen and stand taller as though it too were craning to get a better view. 

Together Ben and Rey spun and flipped and flew through the air across the jagged cliffs of Ahch To, all the while their sabers coming together in perfect harmony. It was clear each knew what the other was preparing to do several steps ahead. How two people could be so intricately woven together as one in combat demonstrated how truly powerful their bond was. It was unlike anything Finn or Jannah had ever seen. 

“You know…” Finn said after a few minutes of seeing what his masters were truly capable of. “I’m really, really glad they’re on our side.” 

“No kidding!” Jannah laughed. 

The more they watched, the clearer it became- If there were any evil forces at work in the galaxy, they didn’t stand much of a chance against what the two padawans were witnessing.

*****

That night Rey looked down at her twin girls as they snuggled into each other, blissfully falling deeper and deeper into sleep. She sat up next to them in bed, finishing writing notes in her journal about all they had seen that day. She liked to keep a record of all they’d witnessed on their journeys into the past. One never knew when specific knowledge of an event might come in handy, and writing it down made sure she didn’t lose any of what they’d seen. 

As she finished the last of her notes, she reached out to Ben in the living room through their bond.

_Are you coming to bed soon sweetheart? ___

_I’ll be right in. ___Ben replied.

He picked up and put away the tools he’d been using to tune the sextant and compass. Next he stacked up the pages of texts he’d been using to guide his work. The insights they’d gained from Beaumont’s translations had helped tremendously with the more technical details contained in the texts. The sections on navigating the WBW were the most cryptic of all. Having a translator who not only knew what the words meant but understood the technical construction of languages and the history and culture behind the meanings of words gave them insights they’d never have been able to achieve on their own. 

Together the three of them had unlocked all kinds of truths about the Force over the past few months. Beaumont had been able to settle questions about several passages they’d been wondering about, as well as offer insights on some they didn’t know they needed. Ben actually found himself wishing they had more texts work on now that they’d gained so much from the collection they had. 

As he walked back towards the bedroom he felt something in his pocket that he didn’t remember having. He was surprised to pull out the toy he caught that his younger self had thrown at him.

“Well hey there...” He said to the toy Falcon. “You really are a survivor.”

He turned the tiny ship over, looking at it from all angles. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d held one of these. Thought it had been decades since he’d seen the toy, it was as familiar as his own lightsaber. It felt like he was holding a piece of time, a physical memory right there in his hands. 

Ben walked back to his old wooden trunk to add the toy to his collection of keepsakes from the past. He held the lid of the trunk open for a moment as he stared at the ship in his hand. 

He looked back at the copies of texts he’d just been studying... 

He looked at the trunk of original texts that sat a few feet away...

How had they never thought of it before?!

He quickly shut the trunk and took the toy Falcon with him.

“What have you got there?” Rey asked in a whisper as he joined her in bed several minutes later.

“The lone survivor of the toy massacre we witnessed today. Somehow the Falcon always makes it out.”

“Very true.” Rey said with a smile. 

“You know I’m really, really glad this little guy made it out.” He turned the plane over again and again as he thought of the possibilities. 

“Oh? Why’s that?” Rey sensed there was more to Ben’s joy over the toy than just nostalgia. 

Ben paused for a moment, working through the possibilities in his mind and realizing the implications of what he was about to say. 

“I think I know how we can bring back the library at Kaleth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To truly balance the Force, you're gonna need the receipts... Thank the gods the Force is finally giving them some answers to their questions. 😂
> 
> Note on lightsaber tech- A containment field is what gives lightsaber blades their fixed shape. It’s what holds the plasma beam from the crystal in place. The field can be turned up or down, making the protective field around the beam thinner or thicker. The thicker it is, the harder it is to get to the plasma and do damage. The thinner it is the easier it cuts through things. 
> 
> Force users turn containment fields low for battles, and high for practicing so they don’t injure opponents during sparing. That’s how a crew of youngling Jedi were able to wield mini lightsabers in the prequels without tearing the room apart.
> 
>   
> Image credit: https://www.starwars.com/databank/jedi-youngling


	70. The Power of Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey discuss their plans for bringing back Kaleth with their friends. Poe and Zorii have some exciting news of their own to share.

Ben and Rey’s friends sat in their living room, staring back at them dumbfounded over the news they’d just delivered. As usual, Poe was the first to speak.

“So this magical Force library that burned down… you two are just gonna go back thousands of years and steal all of it’s books?” He shrugged as he looked around. “Sounds reasonable.”

“Not exactly.” Rey knew this would be tricky to explain. “We’re going to collect a few books at a time to borrow and scan in our time, then return them. It will take a while but that’s the proper way to do it. We have to make sure no one in that time notices what we’re doing. History has to play out the same way so we don’t change the past and alter the present. By borrowing a few at a time, the library will remain intact in its time, but we can build our own library for people in our time to study.”

“You really think you can do this?” Beaumont spoke up. “Bring back the greatest collection of knowledge on the Force the galaxy has ever seen- a collection so vast that most people don’t believe it ever really existed?”

“It’s going to take a lot of work to prepare for it.” Ben made sure to clarify. “We still need a lot of practice navigating the World Between Worlds. We need to get traveling through time down to a science. Being a little off traveling back a few decades had us off a few years. Being a little off traveling back tens of thousands of years will throw us way off course. Now that Finn and Jannah are to a point where they don’t need us as much, Rey and I will be spending most of our time practicing traveling back through time together.”

“You think we’re ready to start training on our own?” Jannah asked, honored by her master’s confidence. 

“You two have come a long way in a short amount of time.” Rey assured her. “You’ve still got a bit of catching up to do to reach Finn but he’s to a point that he can help you with all of that. We’ll check in with you two regularly, but training with us won’t be an every day thing anymore. You’ll both have much more freedom to work on the parts of the Force you want to focus on.”

“So if I’m training Jannah… does that mean I’m a Jedi master now?” Finn couldn’t resist asking. 

“Yeah, I guess it does.” Ben replied, realizing all that meant for Finn. 

“Master Finn.” Rose said proudly. “That has a fabulous ring to it. Oh honey that’s so exciting!”

“Congrats man, that’s huge!” Poe added.

Finn beamed at the affirmation from his friends. It was something he’d dreamed of for a while but had never expected to happen so soon. He felt a renewed sense of purpose as he thought of all he wanted to pass on to Jannah, as well as things he looked forward to working on together. 

“Something tells me there’s a bit more to this though.” Poe said, bringing them back on track. “If you’re scanning an entire library you’re going to need more than just R2s back up memory.”

“Yes…” Rey said, “That was the next thing we need to talk about. We’ll need an upgrade on scanning equipment, printers, and most importantly quite a bit of digital storage once we get to the point of bringing texts back. We won’t be to that point for a while but we’ll need to have it ready to go once we do. In the meantime, Poe you can work with Beaumont on figuring out how much we’ll need, where to store it all, and getting all we need from the capital.”

“Rebuilding Kaleth…” Beaumont said staring off, lost in thought. “Those are the last words I thought I’d ever say. The truth is, there’s no way of knowing how much knowledge we’re dealing with until you two get a good look inside. We can plan like it’s the size of the largest modern libraries in our time, but if legends about it hold any truth, it should be much, much larger.” The reality of where they were suddenly hit him. “How are we going to build something to store that many copies of texts when we barely have any flat ground left on the island?”

It was something Ben and Rey had already considered. “Realistically, we’ll be storing the texts digitally while we’re on the island. We won’t have the space to print that many texts until our work takes us else where, which wont be for several years if we’re realistic.”

“All that ancient writing and it’s only stored digitally.... bit of a shame.” Beaumont replied. 

“Trust me I feel the same way.” Ben agreed. “We’ll get them printed eventually but for now it is what it is.”

Rey smiled at the two of them. Their shared love for something as obsolete as information written on parchment was adorable, but it was a tradition they’d never be able to indulge as much as they’d like on such a tiny island. 

“We will of course have the means to print out important passages.” Rey assured them. “But most of it will stay digital for now. Of course, we can always bring back specific written copies from time to time if we really need to. “

It was a slight reassurance for both men. 

“Still,” Beaumont said reflecting on the adventure that lay ahead. “Just bringing that much knowledge back in any form will be a phenomenal gift to our time and future generations. Everyone mourns what was lost when the Jedi library on Coruscant burned during Order 66. That was child’s play compared to what should be at Kaleth. The Jedi only studied the light side of the Force. The Je’daii were said to have studied both. All the secrets the Sith kept from the galaxy- the knowledge that led to them should have begun at Kaleth. Whatever Palpatine used to try and accomplish what he did, this will be a big step in figuring that out.”

“That’s the idea.” Ben said with a smile. 

“Not just that…” Rey said as a realization came over her. “The idea that the Force can be balanced, it’s something most have lost hope for after all that’s happened. This library and the knowledge inside of it will be the first proof the galaxy has had that it can be done. The proof of the texts existing will be all we need to show people a time of balance actually occurred in history. The hope that comes from being able to bring that back should help people be able to believe it was real.”

The belief that it was real… Rey know just how important belief was when it came to giving people hope. 

For one of the first times since coming to the island, Rey began to feel truly confident in the belief that they were going to be able to restore balance to the Force. If they could bring back the knowledge that had been lost when the Force was balanced, it would be the first step in re-establishing the peace she and Ben had witnessed on Tython. 

“Anything else that needs going over?” Poe asked, anxious to work on their current objective. Convincing the capital to send enough resources to build a library would be no small feat.

“I think that’s it… for now.” Rey said. She knew there would be many, many more discussions on the logistics of libraries before all was said and done.

Zorii looked to Poe. “Well… while we’re making exciting announcements, we might as well share ours.” 

“That’ right… we do have a bit of news.” Poe said with a smile. 

All eyes were on Zori with what she said next. “We figured since all of your kids are so darn cute, we better not waste any time hopping on the baby train ourselves.”

The friends erupted with excitement as the news set in. 

Rose screamed and ran over to hug Zorii. 

“Oh gods! That’s fantastic!” Rey squeled, joining the hug. 

“Is this sort of thing a requirement for living on the island?” Jannah asked with a smile as she joined the group hug.

“Not a requirement.” Rey laughed. “Totally optional of course. It holds up training quite a bit from my experience. Especially twins.”

“Let’s hope it’s not that.” Poe said. “Zorii you don’t have twins in your family right?”

Zorii paused a moment. “About that… I’m pretty sure I remember my mom mentioning her mom was a twin.”

Poe’s gaze snapped up as he stared at her blankly. “You’re joking right?”

Ben couldn’t help bursting out laughing as he sensed his friend’s dread. “Oh man, you are SO screwed.” 

Without thinking Rey shot Ben a look. Thankfully Poe and Zorii didn’t notice.

“Thanks man, thanks.” Poe said. “Really appreciate the vote of confidence.”

Suddenly Rose had a thought. “You four can tell her what she’s having right? Like Finn did for me early on?”

Rey stared back at Rose for a moment, feeling put on the spot. She hadn’t wanted to to spoil the news for them, but since neither Poe nor Zorii were Force sensitive, one of the four of them would have to do so if they wanted to know. 

“Is that something you two want to know?” Rey made sure to ask. 

Zorii and Poe looked at each other. “Totally up to you.” Poe said. 

“Yeah, why not?” Zorii said, a big smile coming across her face. “What do you guys got?”

“Jannah, why don’t you do the honor?” Rey asked. She could tell that she, Ben and Finn already knew the answer, but wanted to see if Jannah trusted her senses enough yet to figure it out. She had a good feeling she did.

Jannah reached over and placed a hand on Zorii’s abdomen to be sure she got a clear sense of the baby. Her eyes went wide with wonder as she looked up, having sensed the babies’ life forces so strongly. 

“Boys…” She said looking up at Zorii. “They’re boys!”

“Wait… boys plural?!” Zorii was stunned.

“Very funny.” Poe rolled his eyes, not believing it for a second. As he looked around the room, the silent stares from his Force sensitive friends told him all he needed to know. 

“Oh… son of a bitch.” Poe said as he hung his head in his hands. Zorii beamed from ear to ear.

“I told you you were screwed.” Ben said, doing his best not to laugh.

“At least you’ve got friends who’ve been through it before.” Finn reassured them.

“No kidding.” Rey added. “I can share more than a few things I wished someone had told me about.”

“You’re gonna come see me when I’m too huge to get out of bed, right?!” Zorii asked Rey.

“Of course!” Rey couldn’t wait to be there for Zorii as she had been for her. 

Poe felt a little reassured as he looked around at their group of friends. Of all the people in the galaxy to be on this journey with, he couldn’t have picked a better crew.

“Twin boys, huh…” He said letting the reality sink in. “That could actually be a lot of fun.”

“Fun?!” Zorii laughed. “It think the word you’re looking for is riot. Two little Poe Damerons running around. Gods help us all...”

“If we’re lucky they’ll take after mom.” Poe said hopefully.

“You sure about that?” Zorii asked.

Poe realized what his life would be like with three people outsmarting him constantly. “Either way… we’re screwed.” Finally, the biggest smile broke out across his face. “I can’t wait.”

*****

That evening the group celebrated their friend’s news with the usual tradition of freshly caught fish by the fire pit. Chewie was especially thrilled with the idea of more rug rats to carry around. Seeing a Wookie carrying multiple toddlers around on his shoulders had become a favorite sight for everyone on the island, one they all looked forward to enjoying for years to come.

Poe found himself fascinated as he watched the Solo twins falling asleep on their father. Ben was deep in conversation with Beaumont about yet another philosophical discussion Poe had a hard time following. All the while, he was somehow able to rock the twins without thinking- Hana was nestled in a wrap on his chest and Ilaria was tucked in to a wrap on his back. Both girls melted into their father, bundled in a warmth and security that was clearly everything two toddlers needed in life

Poe found himself faced with yet another unspoken challenge from his friend and rival - being the best dad a pair of twins could ever hope to have. After bringing down a fleet of ten thousand Imperial star destroyers, he had no doubt he was up for it.

Rey noticed Poe taking mental notes of her husband, but of course wasn’t about to say anything. She had her own whirlwind of thoughts that were occupying her mind. Two sets of twins in two years among their group of friends- it felt like one of the Force’s many blessed coincidences that kept popping into their lives. She wondered if being on an island as strong with the Force as Ahch to had anything to do with it.

Only time would tell as their friend’s families grew. 

*****

Later that night, as Ben and Rey settled into bed, Rey’s mind was still on everything she’d been thinking about by the firepit.

“What do you think about more kids?” She blurted out without thinking. 

Ben looked at her stunned. He hadn’t expected that so soon. 

“Now?!” He asked, unsure what to think.

“No, gods, no. Of course not now, not anytime soon. I mean… someday, in a few years when the girls are older… would you want more kids?”

That had never been a question for Ben. He loved the idea of a big family with Rey. More to the point, they both had a pretty good idea of what was ahead. 

“We’ve had the same visions. I thought we both knew we weren’t done with the girls.”

Rey sighed contentedly. “I guess I was just trying to… be like normal couples for a moment. Asking as if it were a question. Pretending we didn’t know what was coming.”

“Normal couples... How boring.” Ben joked. 

Rey crawled around the girls and kissed her husband on the cheek as she snuggled into him. 

“I guess that would be a little boring.” She sighed. “And a little stressful. Not being able to control conception, always wondering if it will happen when you want it to, making sure it won’t happen when you don’t want it to.”

“You control when you conceive?” That part was news to Ben.

Rey looked up at him a little confused. “I mean I would need a bit of help from you with the process but yes, when we want to have kids again I’ll be the one that allows it to happen.” 

“How?”

Rey couldn’t understand how this was coming as such a mystery. “You and I have known for a while now we control the Force and how it affects us- the power of life and all that. I haven’t been ready for it to happen yet so I haven’t allowed it to happen yet.” Something about Ben’s confusion didn’t make sense. “Honey, do you really think I’ve just been winging it this whole time without proper birth control?”

“I mean… I trusted your judgment. I figured it might take a while for that to happen again anyway.”

Rey sighed. “Well I’m glad one of us knew what was going on this whole time.” 

“I think I know a few things about what’s been going on.”

Rey turned to look up at him. “Was that a joke about how good you are at sex?”

“Is it a joke if it's true?" Ben asked slyly.

Rey giggled contendedly as she snuggled back into him. “Guess not... lucky me.” She suddenly remembered what she’d been meaning to talk about. “Two sets of twins in two years though, seems like the Force is generous with those that live on Ahch To.”

“Our girls weren’t conceived on Ahch to though.” Ben reminded her. “Plus Zorii said twins run in her family.”

“That’s right... Poor Poe probably wishes he learned that sooner.” 

Ben could sense her thoughts wandering. “You’re still thinking about Kaleth?”

“Not the library itself, the people we saw walking around. The other dyads we saw with their children.”

It was something Ben had thought about often, but hadn’t wanted to bring up until Rey was ready to.

“All the families we saw had twins....” Rey went on. 

“You’re sure it was all of them?” Ben asked, afraid to make that assumption on his own. 

“Pretty sure it was all of them. At least all the children of parents with green eyes.”

Ben sighed. “Maybe there will be a book on family planning in the library that can confirm it, tell us what we need to know.”

Rey didn’t need a book to tell her what she’d already knew in her heart. When they did have more children, the power of two would make twins something they should expect as their norm, rather than the exception. It was all the more reason to wait another year or two before attempting to add to their family again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I get the hunch Leia had something to do with sending Poe twin boys? Karma, buddy. 😂
> 
> For Zorii's sake, let's hope they do take after mom. 😂
> 
> My apologies that updates are taking a few days at a time right now. For most people working from home during the Covid outbreak means more time for writing. Since I always work from home the only thing that's changed is my mom isn't coming over to watch baby a couple times a week anymore. That means I have to get more done during nap times which leaves less time for writing. 😩
> 
> Chapters are also getting a bit more complicated as we get into the heavier stuff, so it's going to take at least a few days at a time to get new chapters out. Know that I'm working away on this story busy as ever, with lots of big adventures planned out. Thanks so much to everyone for your patience as this story evolves! 
> 
> Speaking of heavier stuff, we haven't heard from Tazla and Kylo in a while. Wonder what they're up to...
> 
> *Bonus* Here's a gorgeous fan art piece I recently found. It reminded me so much of our story I had to include it! The original only had one X-wing and I couldn't resist adding a second to make it look like the boys are enjoying a dogfight while Finn and Rey train together. Enjoy flying while you still can, Poe. Something tells me you're going to be grounded for a bit once the twins get here... 😂
> 
> Artist Credit: Kmerlozzzz 
> 
>   
>   
> 


	71. The Power of Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter I've been dreaming about writing for a while, but hadn't quite been ready to attempt until now. 
> 
> Here's some Kylo and Dark Rey concept art from TROS to set the mood.  
> 
> 
> You're all in for a treat. Enjoy. 😘

“I have something exceptional prepared for you tonight- something we’ve never done before.” Tazla whispered in her husband’s ear, taking his focus yet again from whatever it was Hux was dragging on about.

Kylo allowed his eyes to wander to her for a moment. At the very least, she wasn’t going to fully interrupt the meeting they were in the middle of. He could tell from the frustration rising in their generals that they were at their wits end with her flagrant disregard for the matters at hand. 

Kylo wouldn’t have minded Tazla’s antics one bit, had they not made high command meetings drag on longer than they needed to. 

_Promise? ___Was all he said through their bond.

 _You know I’ve never lied to you. ___She replied.

*****

As soon as Kylo entered their quarters that evening Tazla pounced on him with a blindfold. 

“So tonight’s a game, I take it?” He hummed.

“You could say that.” Tazla teased as she led him over to sit down on the bed. “Now don’t look until I tell you to.”

Kylo’s heart began to race and his skin bristled with anticipation as he felt his wife calling on the Force. She was pulling something up deep from within the furthest reaches of her soul. Whatever it was she was doing, it was powerful- and totally unlike anything he’d experienced her doing in the Force. For a moment Kylo thought he sensed another presence in the room, but knew it must have been an effect of whatever it was his wife was doing. The other presence was her own…or a version of her. It must have been some result of her powers filling the space. 

A few moments later Tazla removed her husband’s blindfold. Kylo suddenly found himself frozen in shock at what had appeared before him. Of all the things his wife had introduced into their lives together, this was the last thing he’d expected. 

An identical version of herself stood before them, wearing the white linens she’d worn the day she’d fallen to him on the wreckage of the Death Star. He hadn’t expected to ever see her in white again, yet here she was standing before him.

The fear in her amber eyes told him all that he needed to know. 

This wasn’t Tazla. 

This was Rey. 

This was the woman who’d run from their shared destiny as long as she could. This was Rey during the war that had kept them apart. This was the woman who still had some fight against the dark left in her, and fear… so much fear of what she would become if she gave into her deepest desires and became who she was born to be. 

This was who his wife had been in the final moments before she fell to him. He remembered it as if were yesterday- How her grandfather possessed and protected her, turning her to him just in time- before his mother’s interference had a chance to affect them.

Kylo stood up from the bed and looked to his side to make sure his wife was still there. For a few seconds he looked back and forth between the two of them, still unable to understand how any of this could be real.

“Is this some kind of joke?” He asked.

“Joke?!” Tazla asked amused. “Why would this be a joke?”

“My apologies if I fail to see what you’re trying to achieve here.”

Tazla sighed. “I guess I always have been the one with a greater sense of imagination.” 

Kylo rolled his eyes. For a moment he almost felt sorry for the woman standing speechless and frozen in shock in front of him. However Tazla was achieving this, Rey certainly didn’t know what to make of where she found herself. 

She finally found her voice. “What the hell is-“ 

“Shhhh sweetheart the adults are talking.” Tazla silenced her for a moment with a flick of her hand. She looked back at her husband lovingly and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I know you’ve always been a little curious… What would it be like to be with the old me? The girl you chased after for so long? You never really got the chance to know her. I figured I’d bring her out to play so you could find out exactly what that would be like.”

Kylo’s gaze snapped to his wife. 

She was projecting the light side of herself out for him? 

How had she come by such immense power? 

He didn’t have to think long to remember they’d both just returned from a trip to Exegol. Though she’d come along and gained vast reserves of power from its vergence, she’d decided to drain his Knights to near death again right after they got back just for the hell of it. They were both riding on a power high like few they’d ever known. 

“That’s it…” She whispered in his other ear. “I feel your curiosity peaking.”

Rey came to her senses as her shock began to fade. She instantly reached to her hip for a saber that wasn’t there.

Tazla cocked her head to the side as she noticed the futile attempt. “Did you really think I’d let you bring one of those to the party?”

Rey looked around desperately in a panic. 

Nothing in her training had ever prepared her for anything like this. 

She found herself the captive of Kylo and- what appeared to be _her dark side? ___

Somehow, the vision of herself she’d seen inside the vergence that held the wayfinder now had her trapped somewhere else.

She had no idea what to make of it or what to do to stop it.

Rey figured as long as she was here, she might as well stand up for herself.

“Do you two normally bring prisoners into your personal quarters or did you run out of torture chambers?” She asked haughtily.

“Damn... That would have been more fun.” Tazla hummed. 

“What?” Rey shot back. That hadn’t been the response she’d expected.

Tazla sighed again, quickly boring with how dull her plan was turning out to be. Her light side was being an insufferable brat and her husband was just standing there, clearly having no clue what to do with any of it. 

Kylo felt a shift in his wife’s energy. Slowly a devlish grin came across her face as she realized what was needed to balance the situation. 

“Sweetheart…” She said innocently, looking back at him. “Look at the poor thing. She’s so scared and alone.” She looked back towards Rey. “We can’t just leave her like this. She needs a friend. Someone to… help her feel a bit more in the mood.”

Kylo stared at his wife confused. “What exactly are you asking?”

“Oh come on now.” Tazla’s voice dripped with the kind of warmth that made him weak. “You know exactly what poor lonely Rey wants. The night we touched hands in that filthy little hut on Ahch To? You saw exactly what she hid away from the world in the deepest depths of her heart. That thing she hoped for before I knew better? You know what you need to do.”

Kylo realized this was getting more outrageous by the moment. First his wife had freed and projected her light side out for him, and when that part of her unsurprisingly wasn’t up for the kind of games the dark side liked to play, she wanted him to project his light side as well. 

He wondered if Tazla had gone insane. 

“You leave Ben out of this.” Rey demanded, realizing immediately what Tazla was getting at.

“Leave Ben out of this?” Tazla asked. “You speak as if you already know him so well.”

The words broke Rey’s heart. The truth was she hadn’t got to know him like she’d always dreamed she would. She thought she knew who the man Ben Solo was, but whatever was happening in front of her was making her wonder if the future she’d seen in the hut that night had ever existed.

“Don’t worry sweetheart.” Tazla reassured her, a strange kindness coming over her. She looked back at her husband. “I always get what I want.”

Kylo realized in that moment it was pointless to resist. Tazla did always get what she wanted, and she wasn’t going to let this go until she saw how useless it was. He figured he’d better project his light side out and get it over with.

Kylo closed his eyes and meditated on freeing and projecting a part of himself he’d kept buried away for years, a part of himself the galaxy hadn’t seen in over a decade- save for the woman in white that stood before them.

When Ben appeared he looked around confused for a moment, then looked back at Rey. 

Together their eyes filled with tears as they instantly remembered the life they had indeed lived together for the past few years. Hiding out on Tatooine, their hut on Ahch To, their twins… it all came back in a flood of memories that neither Tazla nor Kylo had anticipated. Their minds being bonded as they were, Kylo and Tazla saw all of it as it flooded the minds of their light sides.

For a moment Rey wondered why dark eyes looked back at her instead of the green eyes she’d become used to. She realized hers must be brown as well. Her thoughts were interrupted before she had the chance to voice it

“Interesting…” Tazla crossed her arms as she spoke up. “Projecting you two out created some kind of alternate fantasy world for you to remember together... it even… included the girls? How very thorough. Can’t say I saw that coming but what can it hurt? At least you’re not the pathetic virgins you would have been years ago.”

“Trust me he was hardly pathetic.” Rey snapped. Ben looked at her stunned- and a little proud.

“All the more encouraging.” Tazla mused. “Regardless, everything you two are remembering is an illusion. Some hicuup in the Force. I don’t know how to explain it but I’m sure we’ll figure it out eventually. Whatever it is, you’re in the real world now. Our world. Now, are we going to stand around talking all night or are we going to have some real fun?”

Ben turned to face Tazla and stepped in front of Rey protectively. He wasn’t sure what Kylo and Tazla were up to, but from what he’d heard of Rey’s dreams he couldn’t imagine it would be good.

Tazla sensed Ben’s fear and did her best to reassure them. “Darlings…” She said walking over to them. Her face was just inches from Ben as she looked up at him. “We’re not here to hurt you. We could never hurt you. You two- you’re a part of us. We just… want to have a little fun with the parts of ourselves we’ve kept locked away for so long.”

The lust Ben sensed radiating from Tazla told him all he need to know. He relaxed as he realized he should have known from the beginning what this was about. 

Nothing was ever enough for those on the dark side. The more they got, the more they wanted. Somehow in Kylo and Tazla’s life together one or both had wanted to see how to push their passion for each other to the next level. He wasn’t sure how he’d been drawn into one of Rey’s dreams, but truth be told he wasn’t wholly opposed to the idea. He knew he’d better check with Rey first though. 

Cautiously he turned back to look at his wife. 

“So… is that something you’d be into or…” 

Rey looked back at him stunned. “What do you mean something I’d be into?!”

“I mean… are you up for a little… dark side fun?”

Rey realized what Ben meant- he was as up for it as the other two. “Really Ben? Why would you think I’d be up for-”

“Come on honey.” The look in his eyes saw right through her. “We know each other better than that.” His next words he made sure to say through their bond. _We both know this is just a dream- a fantasy like all the others we’ve created. Why not enjoy it? ___

Rey had to admit he had a point.

“Ohhhhhhh!!!” Tazla said, clasping her hands as she sensed a memory of fantasies they’d created together. “So the dark side still holds it wonders for you two, does it?! Even devoted to the light- you just can’t tear yourself away from all you were meant to be.” She looked back at Kylo. “Turns out we all know who made the right choices here after all.”

Rey rolled her eyes “As if you’d know a damn thing about the life we’ve led.” She snapped. She then lowered her voice as her next words were intended only for Ben. “Honestly I’m this close to fucking Kylo just to get her to stop talking.” 

Kylo’s gaze snapped to her, eyebrows raised. He’d heard every word.

“That I’d love to see.” Ben laughed.

Tazla beamed. “I mean… that is the entire point of all this.” She walked around to Rey and leaned in to whisper in her ear. For some reason Rey didn’t stop her. Some part of her was curious- what could her dark side possibly have to say to her at this point?

“Don’t be afraid of that desire... We both know it’s always been there.” The kindness in Tazla’s voice was the last thing Rey had expected, and against everything she thought she believed about herself it began to melt away her resolve to resist. “All those nights alone in the Falcon… Tucked away in the middle of the night in that muddy hovel on Ajan Kloss… When no one was around to hear how loudly you moaned… How you dreamed of yourself naked on a bed of black sheets… in a room just like this one… Somewhere cleaner… Somewhere warmer… Somewhere safer… Somewhere… with him.” Tazla nodded towards Kylo. 

Rey had to admit, she too had a point. 

“And that’s not all of it…” Tazla continued. “Your thoughts between you and Ben just now… Coming to the light wasn’t the end of it was it? There’s still that curiosity… Still that desire… To know the man who held your fascination for so long... To know the parts of him that made him Kylo Ren... You can’t stop thinking about it. Even when you’re together, you wish he’d take things just a little further… Show you all he could be if he fully gave himself back to the dark. Here’s your chance. Trust me, you don’t want to waste it.”

Rey could sense Kylo’s hunger for her in that moment as her mind flooded with what all Tazla was saying. There very much was a part of her that needed to experience that, to see the man she loved totally unhinged and consumed with lust for her, to know just how far he’d go to satisfy his passions for her. 

Something about the way Kylo had made her feel hunted all those years had absolutely terrified her- and it had turned her on. Though she’d never found the words to admit that to herself, she was realizing just how true that was. 

In that moment Rey realized there wasn’t much of a choice. If she didn’t indulge whatever this was, she’d always wonder what could have been, what she had said no to, what she had missed out on.

There was something about this she needed to see…

Some answer to a question she didn’t know needed asking...

She was done living with unanswered questions.

Rey sensed Ben’s anticipation as he felt her letting go. Fully exploring the dark side of passion together was something he’d wanted to do for some time, but he’d never known how to bring it up or how it would even be possible to do without falling themselves. Now that the Force had presented this opportunity, he couldn’t wait to see what would happen. 

Ben’s excitement was all the encouragement Rey needed to fully let go. She finally spoke up as the last walls barring off her deepest desires fell in her mind. 

“Alright... let’s do this.”

The air in the room froze for a moment as the four of them stared eagerly at each other, wondering who would make the first move. Tazla of course wasted no time.

Her boots clicking the floor was the only sound in the room as she walked around to Ben. Her eyes were full of fire as she reached a hand up to touch his face. Their bond between them sparked and simmered with imbalance.

“Don’t be afraid, I feel it too.” She said. He wasn’t sure if she was taunting him or encouraging him, but either way he didn’t care. He’d waited to see the dark side of his wife’s passion for some time, and however she wanted it, he looked forward to playing along. 

Rey took a deep breath as she walked over to Kylo who stood frozen several feet away from the bed. It was clear he could scarcely believe what was happening. She realized she’d have to be the one to take charge up front to get him to see this was something she really wanted. 

As she looked up at him, just inches from his face, Kylo’s eyes reminded Rey of the moments they’d shared together in the elevator just before entering Snoke’s throne room. She could see the conflict within him. He wanted so much to reach out and take her in his arms, yet he still had a hard time believing she could want the same thing. Having been married to her dark side for years, at first she couldn’t imagine what could be holding him back. 

Suddenly it hit her. Kylo had never been with her like this. Tazla may have fallen to him, but he’d never known Rey as his. She remembered how scared Ben had been to share his fantasies from his time on the dark side with her- he’d never thought she could love that part of himself. Rey realized it was time to let this part of her husband see just how much she’d always been his. 

“It’s alright.” She said as she reached up and touched his scared face. “It’s just me- your other half in the Force. I’ve always been here. I’ve always been yours.”

Kylo closed his eyes and leaned his cheek into her touch. The warmth and love that radiated from her hand was everything he’d ever needed. 

As Tazla pulled Ben’s shirt over his head, Rey heard her gasp at the perfectly untouched skin of his broad chest. 

“Gods… you’re as fresh as a newborn.” She said running her hands over Ben’s muscled form hungrily. The sight of Ben’s perfect body made Tazla even more impatient to ravage him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to lock him in a deep, passionate kiss. Ben returned her desire, grasping her body to him as his hands ran over every inch of her.

Rey was confused for a moment what she had meant, until she pulled Kylo’s shirt off. His chest bore more scars than she remembered when she’d seen him half undressed through their bond. The scar she’d given him from shoulder to forehead was still there, along with a couple new battle scars she didn’t recognize.

“What happened?!” Rey asked, forgetting herself as she gently touched her hands to his scarred flesh. 

Kylo’s eyes flicked to his wife for a moment, then back to Rey. 

“Things can get… a little wild sometimes.” He muttered.

Rey stared dumbfounded at Tazla for a moment, wondering what could have possibly possessed her to inflict the kind of pain she’d apparently caused. She had absolutely no clue what Kylo was referring to, and knew right away she didn’t want to know. Some things were better left secrets of the dark side.

Rey’s questions faded as Kylo’s impatience got the better of him. He finally found the confidence to do what he’d wanted to do. He picked Rey up in his arms like he had the first time they’d met, carried her to the bed, laid her down gently and began undressing her slowly. She could feel his eyes savoring every inch of skin as it bared itself to him. 

Rey had thought Kylo would be like an animal, ripping and tearing and puling clothing off in a frenzy, but the way he treated her so delicately- as if she were something that could break or disappear at any moment- it was the last thing she’d expected. He began by running his fingers through her hair as he kissed her, slowly pulling her linens off, planting the softest kisses down her neck… across her shoulders… his hot breath on her skin… everything about him felt… so… heavy. 

He needed something from her and yet was afraid to ask.

Rey could feel the weight in his soul as he held back, afraid to damage something so pure, so beautiful, something he never thought he’d be allowed to have- yet here she was naked and ready to come undone in his arms. 

Tension radiated off of him as his mind was torn between the desire to despoil her and the need to worship her. 

Rey had expected to be ravaged and consumed, yet found herself being doted upon by a man who wasn’t entirely sure he was worthy of her. She figured she’d let him simmer about it a little longer. The man who’d hunted her mercilessly for so long was nearly undone by the idea of having caught her- and she planned to enjoy every minute.

Ben had no such issue. From what he’d heard of Rey’s dreams and what he knew of the dark side, he had a pretty good idea of who Tazla was and had no fear of pushing her too far. Rather, he figured he’d tease her a bit before seeing what she could do. 

As they continued to kiss, Ben reached behind her and grabbed her ass to pick her up and carry her over to the bed. 

“I do like a man that takes charge.” Tazla hummed, legs and arms wrapped around him as he carried her to the bed. 

Ben landed on the bed with Tazla in his lap. He remembered the dress she had on from their fantasy in the command room. Knowing what to do he reached around and expected to find buttons, but instead found a zipper that easily came undone. 

“Zipper- nice touch.” Ben muttered.

Tazla looked at him confused for a moment, wondering how Ben would be familiar with the ins and outs of her wardrobe. “I used to have my dresses made with buttons, I preferred that look, but the tailors began replacing them with zippers. I suppose they got tired of endlessly sewing buttons back on.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” He smirked, remembering just how much his former self hated waiting for literally anything.

Ben soon had her dress down to her waist and her bra flung to the floor. He leaned down and breathlessly began kissing her breasts. Tazla moaned as he took her pert nipple in his mouth, teasing the sensitive bud with his tongue. At the same time he slid a hand up her skirt between her legs to feel how ready she was. No fabric hindered his access to her warm, wet cunt. 

On the bed next to them Kylo had Rey fully undressed and had situated himself between her legs. His dark eyes widened as he stared down at her hungrily. He bit his lip as he considered his next move. Rey cocked her head to the side as if to say “Well? Get on with it.”

Had she not known better, she might have thought he was holding back on purpose, teasing her with the idea of what was to come. She knew more than she needed to of Kylo to know self control was not his forte. Holding back was taking everything he had, and it came from a place of deep fear that at any moment Rey might stop him from doing what he’d wanted to do to her for so long. 

His hesitations were a tease in themselves- every second that dragged on made Rey all the more impatient to see Kylo as unhinged and wild as she knew he could be.

Kylo knelt down and began kissing along her thighs. Rey felt her breath quicken as his mouth ran along her legs, inching closer to where he wanted to be. As soon as his lips meet her soft, tender mound Rey felt the fire inside of him threaten to burst forth. Cautiously he dipped his tongue between her folds. The taste of her was all that was needed to break the damn of passion that had held back for too long. 

He instantly covered her sex with his soft, flushed lips. Large hands reached around her thighs to press his mouth to her. His tongue continued diving between her folds, drinking up the wetness that had already pooled there from all that he was doing to her. 

Deep, hungry, dark eyes looked up at her from between her legs- the sight of which drove her wild. She was suddenly reminded of countless fantasies she’d indulged more times than she could remember- that same dark, hungry, scared visage staring up at her just like this, eager to consumer her and make her wholly his. Her back arched as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her other hand clasped her breast as she moaned and writhed with the pleasure that built between her legs.

“Kylo…” she muttered almost a whisper. The sound of his name on her lips made him moan into her as he savored her, urging her pleasure to an even higher state. His moans told her all she needed to know. 

“Kylo…” She moaned a little louder. She knew what she was doing- She knew exactly what she was doing, he realized. His dark name on her pure lips was a challenge to push him further, and he was more than happy to oblige. 

He puled her to the edge of the bed and knelt down to get a better angle, throwing her legs over his shoulders and licking up into her cunt as he slid a finger in to stimulate her from the inside and out. 

“Ahhhh Kylo..” She moaned as he found just the right spot. That was it… that was what his sweet scavenger needed. He slid another finger in and pushed harder, urging her closer and closer to coming undone.

Ben turned to look for a moment at his wife who was losing herself on the mouth of his dark side. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. Seeing his distraction, Tazla planted her hands on Ben’s chest and pushed him hard back on the bed. 

She wasn’t about to be outdone. 

Tazla reached up and ripped his pants open, freeing his erection and instantly drawing his focus back to her. She pulled his pants off and threw them onto the floor, demanding he be fully naked and submitted to her as Rey was to her husband. Ben didn’t mind one bit. He settled back into a pillow as he let his wife’s dark side do her worst. 

Her pale white hands dug into his thighs as she pushed them apart to get herself at a better angle to take him in her mouth. Soft, red lips teased him as she gently kissed up and down the sides of his cock. 

Ben watched in awe as Tazla’s mouth slid down on him. Rey had done the same for him many times before, but there was something about the way Tazla lost herself in it that was totally new. Instead of looking up at him with eyes of devotion, a pair of dark, greedy eyes stared up at him as she did all she could to take his length in her mouth. As if that weren’t enough, she’d pulled her dress off to give him a view of what she was doing to herself as she tasted him. 

While one hand stroked the base of his shaft, the other reached down between her thighs. Her delicate fingers swirled around her cunt, the wetness of which he’d been savoring just moments ago with his own hand. With each passing moment Tazla worked his cock with her lips. At the same time her skilled finders worked delicious moans out of her, the vibrations of which made his cock sing with pleasure. 

Ben wasn’t sure what was more intoxicating- the way Tazla looked up at him, hungrily taking his cock in her mouth, pleasuring herself all the while- or the sight of Rey moaning his former name as his dark side devoured her. He had to be a part of it, to reach out and touch his wife as she lost herself on the face of a man who’d hunted her for so long. He reached out and palmed her breast, teasing her nipple and adding to the pleasure her body was experiencing. Rey instinctively leaned up and into his touch.

“Feeling greedy are we?” Tazla teased from between his thighs. “Don’t hold back, take as much as you want. We’re all here to enjoy each other.”

It was all the encouragement Rey and Ben needed. They looked at each other for a moment, lost in the pleasure that their dark sides were giving them. No words were needed to know they had to connect with each other as their bodies sang with ecstasy. Rey reached out and pulled Ben’s face to her, locking their lips in a deep passionate kiss.

The sight of Rey kissing Ben made a rage flare in Kylo. Here he was doing all he could to pleasure her and yet she’d turned away to enjoy his light side instead.

“Yeeesss…” Tazla urged the two of them, bobbing up from Ben’s cock for a moment. “That’s what we like to see.” Her mouth dove back down on him, forcing a moan out of Ben as Rey’s tongue swirled through his mouth.

Kylo’s gaze snapped to his wife. How could she be enjoying this? He knew well enough she too was putting all she had into pleasing his light side, and the bastard was ignoring her to turn to enjoy his own wife instead. Ben had the darkest, most powerful woman in the galaxy worshipping his cock yet he couldn’t resist reaching out to Rey. Kylo couldn’t understand it…

Just as Kylo found himself riddled with jealousy, Tazla turned to look at him and winked. No words were said through their bond. They didn’t need to be.

This was all part of a plan… it had been all along. 

Kylo immediately realized what she was up to. If they could make their light sides fall to the dark as deeply as they had- they’d have finally given themselves fully to the dark side. No more fear and suspicion of weakness between them, no more lying to each other about how Rey and Ben were dead. Though they’d never admitted it to each other, they both knew their light sides had been fully alive inside of them all this time. It was a constant struggle they both faced to keep them locked away and subdued as they fulfilled their shared destiny of becoming the most powerful dyad that ever lived. It was time to snuff out that last bastion of resistance in their souls for good. By seducing their light sides to see all the dark side could give them, they’d finally be able to give themselves fully to the dark. 

It was time to fall fully together. It was time to become who they were truly meant to be. 

A renewed enthusiasm came over Kylo as he realized exactly what he needed to do. He was going to make Rey his, every bit as much as Tazla. He was going to make Rey forget Ben had ever existed. He had no doubt Tazla would succeed in doing the same for Ben.

Kylo’s hands grabbed Rey’s thighs and he pulled her up higher to him. His fingers crept further between her legs, spreading her flesh apart, baring her clit to him in complete vulnerability. His tongue swirled around it mercilessly as his mouth sucked an unforgiving rhythm into the soft folds of her cunt.

“Oh- Kylo- GODS!” She moaned, ripped away from the kiss she’d just been enjoying. 

As Kylo and Tazla’s passions surged higher, the two of them became like animals on Rey and Ben. Something about the two pure souls that laid in front of them made them want to ravage every inch of them- to defile them until they were every bit as dark and twisted as they were. 

An upsoken challenge developed between the dark dyad as they pushed their light sides further and further into the depths of their passion- like all things, this would be a fight for power- to see who could make their other half’s light side break first. 

Rey and Ben had no idea what they were in for- but they were quickly realizing this would be like nothing they’d ever experienced. 

Seeing Rey squirm frantically with the intensity of what Kylo was doing to her was more than Ben could take. He quickly felt himself about to come undone in Tazla’s mouth. Just before he reached down to make her pause she bobbed her head up. 

“I think that’s quite enough of that for now.” She said as she climbed on top of him. Ben held his breath for a moment as she brought his tip to her entrance. She was even wetter than she had been before, the pleasure of all she’d done to herself had more than prepared her to take him.

Tazla hissed with pleasure as her flesh parted for Ben and she slid down on him.  
Her hips began to rock slowly as she rode his cock. 

“How very… familiar.” She mused. 

“Familiar” hadn’t been the word Ben had hoped for as what he was experiencing was anything but. For a moment he had to partially shield his mind from the sounds coming from Rey. He’d never be able to focus, much less last very long with such an incredible distraction taking place right next to him. 

As he regained control Ben reached up to tease Tazla’s breasts as she rode him. It was all he could think to do as his mind came back to him. She hummed with pleasure as he teased her, but in true Tazla fashion she instantly wanted more. She puled his hand down to her clit, making him rub just where she needed it.

Her beautiful breasts bouncing above him were too much for Ben to ignore. As he rubbed her he leaned up and took her nipple in his mouth again, sucking mercilessly as her wet flesh slapped down on him.

The added stimulation was all she needed. Ben felt her orgasm building as he sucked harder and harder, swirling cirles around her clit at the same time. 

Finally Tazla threw her head back in full surrender. “Ben!” She cried as she lost herself.

It was a name Kylo had never heard yelled from his wife’s lips- and for a moment it very nearly dove him insane. 

His rage would have overtaken him had he not felt Rey about to come undone again on the fingers he’d slid inside her. His mind was pulled back to her as he felt her body craving his every touch. He knew what he needed to do. 

“That’s it….” He urged her. “Come for me again, come undone like you know you need to.”

“Kylo- please-“ Rey moaned. “I-I need you.” She begged, hoping for some relief from the desire that had overwhelmed her. His mouth had made her come more times than she could count at this point, and her body craved his cock as if she needed it to survive.

“What is it you need?" His fingers stroked inside of her mercilessly as he threatened to force another orgasm out of her.

“You- You know… what I need.” She panted.

“Say it.” He demanded fiercely. “You know what you have to do.”

His eyes burned into her as she looked up at him. This was what he’d wanted all along but had been too afraid to ask- he needed to hear her beg for him to take her.

“Damnit Kylo” She cried, grasping loose sheets as pleasure overtook her again, 

“I need your cock inside me…

I need you to fuck me- 

PLEASE…”

Please was what did it- what made him lose control like Rey had hoped he would all along. 

The moment that word fell from her lips, Kylo pounced on Rey like a caged animal. 

The next few moments flew by in a haze. He picked her up, spun her around and had her in front of him on all fours. 

Rey could feel his passion burning off his skin as his cock plunged inside her from behind. The quickness of it made her moan in protest momentarily, but the shock soon faded. Feeling his fullness inside of her was everything she needed after all he’d done to her. She leaned back into him hoping for more. 

Tazla sensed Kylo losing himself, and knew she’d need to turn things up a notch to keep Ben’s focus on her. Her husband would have Rey screaming in no time, and she’d need to make sure she had Ben’s full attention before that happened. 

She began working herself back up on Ben, reaching down and pulling his shoulders up so he was sitting with her. She had his face inches from hers as she took his hand and began sucking on one of his long fingers, teasing him with her eyes just like she’d done with his cock in her mouth. 

What she did next nearly made him weak. 

She reached his hand down and around to her ass, pressing his wet finger to the tight opening between her cheeks. He felt her hot breath on his ear as she pressed her face alongside his.

“Go ahead Ben...” She whimpered. “Play with me.” 

He couldn’t believe what she’d just asked him to do. He’d always wondered if Rey would be into that but was too afraid to ask. Tazla practically begging him to do so told him all he needed to know. 

He slowly plunged his finger into her eliciting a deep moan as she threw her head back. 

“Yes Ben, FUCK-“ Slowly her hips began rocking on him again. “Oh GODS that’s what I needed…”.

Ben was completely intoxicated by what Tazla was doing to him. It nearly took his breath away how tight she was on him. The moans that came out of her as he fingered her ass had him right on the edge.

The sight of his wife’s dark side riding him would have been enough to end him, but making him touch her in this way- putting his finger in a place where he’d never touched her before, feeling himself as his cock pumped her other opening… it took everything he had not to lose it inside her right away. 

Tazla heard Rey beginning to moan louder and sensed Kylo getting closer to climax. Thankfully she had Ben right where she needed him. 

Rey grasped the pillow in front of her and moaned into it as Kylo mercilessly pounded the spot that made her come undone. 

“That’s it…” He growled in her ear. “Come for me again my sweet little scavenger.”

“I- Kylo- I don’t know how much… more of this I can take.” Rey panted as her pleasure built and threatened to overtake her. 

“You’ll take what I give you.” He groaned. 

Rey leaned back into him and desperately tried to gasp for air as she let his words roll over her. Feeling Kylo lose control in the heat of passion like this had been everything she’d dreamed of for so long- and been terrified of at the same time. Feeling all the things it did to her- the way he dominated her, the way it made made her senses come alive- she began to wonder what she’d ever been so afraid of. 

She could feel Kylo’s energy teetering on the edge- he was so close to losing himself inside her. She needed to feel what that was like, to know she’d made the darkest, most powerful man in the galaxy lose himself in her, surrendering everything he was to her. She had a pretty good idea of what she needed to do to make that happen.

Tazla sensed what was about to happen and knew she could begin to let herself go. The moment she came again for Ben she knew she’d have him. It was taking everything he had to hold back, and feeling her body orgasm with what she had him doing would be more than he could take. 

“Come with me this time.” Tazla crooned as she bounced on his cock. “Come inside me Ben, I need it…”

“Come with me this time..” Rey begged Kylo as she leaned back into him. “Come inside me Kylo, Please….”

The four of them came together in a rush of energy that made the star destroyer they were on shudder from end to end. 

Officers and personal in every corner of the ship looked up, wondering what kind of malfunction could have made such a thing happen. They all spent the next several hours hurrying about, unsuccessfully checking every system on the ship for a flaw to find the cause of the quake. Not one of them would ever find the cause of the issue.

Rey collapsed on the bed as she felt Kylo’s seed spill into her. The release of his soul as he surrendered himself to her brought her to tears. Pleasure and relief overwhelmed her as their bodies throbbed together in unison. 

Tazla looked down at Ben triumphantly as his body shuddered with pleasure, his seed filling her with his warmth. The loud moan she drew out of him as he pumped into her had her sure she’d made him forget who Rey ever was. 

Rey did her best to catch her breath for a moment as the warmth of Kylo’s body on top of her pressed her into the bed. 

Ben fell back on the bed and his chest heaved as he did the same, trying to catch his breath as he stared in wonder at the wild, beautiful creature on top of him. 

A few moments later Kylo and Tazla watched as their light sides did something they didn’t expect. Rey turned her head to look at Ben, reaching out a hand to him. Ben reached out to her and took her hand in his. They smiled at each other, drinking in each other’s glow. The pleasure of what they’d just been brave enough to enjoy together continued to roll over them. 

Tazla took a deep breath and solidly shielded her mind to make sure they didn’t sense the rage that flared inside her. Kylo sat up silently as his eyes met his wife’s gaze. They stared at each other blankly for a moment. 

How had they failed? 

How was it their light sides were not only still here… 

but reaching out…

for each other…

…after all they’d just seen the dark side could do for them?

Kylo’s next words shook Rey and Ben from their shared euphoria.

“We’re not done yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh... what exactly have Rey and Ben got themselves into?!
> 
> Once again, the smut chapter got so long I had to break it into two. Don't worry, part two is well underway! 😉


	72. Learning To Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey find themselves trapped by desires Kylo and Tazla know are impossible to resist. What happens next, brings all four of them to a place they didn't know they needed.
> 
>  *****Warning***** This chapter's smut gets pretty heavy. At times Rey and Ben feel trapped by their desires. I can see how some might feel like that needs a **noncon TW**. They're into it, they're just don't fully _want ___to be into it. Proceed with caution if that's something that might be triggering for you. ❤

Kylo’s arms wrapped around Rey from behind. She soon found herself kneeling against the headboard that was built into the wall, her hands gripping the top of it to steady herself. 

She looked down at Ben as she tried to process what was happening. Ben looked half drunk as he smiled up at her. It was clear he would play along with this as long as he was asked to. 

Rey sighed with a slight smile as she resigned herself to her fate. She had to admit; she wouldn’t mind Kylo showing her a few more things like what he’d just showed her. 

“Sit just like that for me.” Kylo whispered to her from behind, already a step ahead. Rey had no clue what was happening, but by now she knew better than to resist. 

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a towel summoned. Kylo gently cleaned her off as he prepared her for round two. Next he laid down behind her, staring up at the ceiling, stroking his cock to bring back his erection. 

“Want to come join us?” He said turning to look at his wife.

Tazla squealed with delight at the offer. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

Rey suddenly felt Kylo’s hands reach around from behind and grab her thighs as he pulled himself under her. His mouth dove into her again. She looked down to see those same hungry dark eyes that had driven her wild before now gazing at up her from below. She felt particularly filthy over how much she realized she enjoyed Kylo eating her out again. Knowing his cock had just been there… knowing what he’d done. He’d cleaned her off, but still… she was impressed by his dedication. 

She’d have normally been done by now, yet here he was warming her back up for something else. Something more. Something beyond what she’d ever done. 

She couldn’t imagine where this was going, but she couldn’t wait to see.

Ben felt a bit lost as Tazla climbed off him and went to join her husband. He looked to Rey for a sign of what to do, but she was too busy being fascinated by his dark side gazing up at her between her thighs. Not that he could blame her. The way Tazla had taunted him with her eyes when she went down on him had been impossible to ignore. 

“Don’t think I’m done with you yet.” Ben heard Tazla say as she straddled above Kylo. “Just give me… one second to get situated.” The moan that hummed out of her as she slid down in her husband’s cock made him want to do unspeakable things to her. Fortunately for Ben, he had a feeling she wanted the same.

Tazla reached over and grabbed Ben’s wrist to pull him to her as she began rocking on Kylo’s cock. 

“Don’t be shy.” She moaned- begged more like it- as she led him to crawl back behind her. “I’m feeling a little greedy myself. I’m going to need both of you for this.” Ben couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Just like you did before” She said, taking two of his fingers in her mouth. “This time I’m going to need… a little more.”

Ben shuddered as she pulled his hand down behind her and slid his fingers inside the tightest part of her body. The sounds that came out of her mouth as she rocked with his fingers inside of her had him hardening again instantly. 

He did his best to try and not imagine where this was going. 

It was too forbidden... She couldn’t possibly want that from him. 

He soon found it more than a little difficult NOT to imagine where this might go. The feeling of her tight flesh around his fingers overwhelmed him, and had him only able to think of one thing- how another part of him would very much like to feel that same sensation. 

Tazla reached back for his other hand and pulled him forward to palm her breast, leaning back into his chest. Ben felt her body heave with desire as she rocked and moaned into him. He dipped his head to lean his cheek on her shoulder, completely enraptured by her. Kylo’s cock may have been inside of her, but she was his in this moment. 

As he massaged her breast and slowly peppered her shoulders with kisses he felt her opening up for him. With each moan and sigh her body prepared itself to do something he’d never imagined his wife’s body doing for him.

“More” she uttered lowly, “A little more.”

Ben wetted a third finger and added it to the other two.

Tazla moaned a little deeper, the stretch of it pushing her closer to where she needed to be. 

In addition to all his hands were doing, the growing moans Kylo was drawing out of Rey had Ben rock hard. Suddenly a possessive side began to creep over him- feeling Kylo’s cock from inside Tazla, hearing what Kylo was doing to his wife just a few feet away- For the first time that evening, Ben felt himself becoming the jealous one. 

His kisses on Tazla’s shoulders became more insistent, more impatient. She was teasing him with something so irresistible that it had his mind coming apart with desire. Slowly he drug his teeth across her skin, daring her to make him wait longer. 

Tazla hissed with delight at the challenge. Her body was opening up for him just like she wanted, but she could make this go on a longer if needed. The feeling of a man behind her losing himself to his base desires was just what she’d been hoping for all night. 

“How long… do I have to wait?” Ben groaned without thinking. 

“Wait for what?” Tazla taunted, amused by his nerve.

“You know what I want.” Ben moaned, utterly lost to his desire. “Something tells me you want it too.”

“Hmmmm…” Tazla hummed joyfully. “You might be right about that.”

Her hand went out toward the side table and summoned a bottle of liquid. She reached behind her and drenched Ben’s cock with it’s contents, biting her lip as she stared down at the size of him. 

Of course, it _was ___everything she was used to.

Still… she’d never had two men inside of her before and the prospect had her pulse racing.

Ben’s heart pounded equally as fervently. 

He watched spellbound as she guided him to her to the entrance he’d warmed up just moments before. His jaw tightened as his tip pressed to her, eager to dive inside, knowing it would take everything he had to not come undone immediately upon doing so.

Sensing his hesitation, Tazla leaned back slowly, pushing herself down on him. Ben felt his breath catch in his chest as he held it for a moment, afraid to let go. Tazla’s body was so tight, so full between his cock and Kylo’s- he wondered how she’d be able to fit all of him. 

“It’s like before.” She whispred back to him, barely able to get the words out. “I just need… a little time… to get used to it.”

Ben was happy to give her all the time she needed. From the pleasure that sang through him from the tight flesh around his cock, he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Tazla inched herself onto him slowly, getting used to it a little more as each moment passed. She’d been penetrated doubly with the help of her favorite accessories before, but never by two living, breathing men- both of them versions of the man her soul was bonded to above all else. It was everything her passions had ever craved.

Rey gripped the headboard as she stared down at Kylo devouring her from below, his mouth pushing her closer to yet another orgasm. Somehow, her body kept giving her more, kept allowing her to go further than she'd ever been, when she thought she’d been done some time ago. His tongue swirled around her clit and her skin tensed as her body came alive for him again. 

The weight of her body focusing all her energy down on his mouth made the pleasure he gave her even more intense than before. Her thighs trembled as the first waves of climax threatened to take over. She gripped the headboard tighter as her whole body began to shake. Bundled heat bloomed in the friction between his tongue and her cunt. As the sensations of his mouth overwhelmed her, her head fell back and her eyes clenched shut as another loud, long moan escaped her. 

Somehow, Kylo had found all the right spots to get her worked back up again. 

“Now I think you’re ready.” He said staring up at her as she drifted back down. 

“Ready… for what?” she panted.

Kylo lifted her off him and spun her around so her rear was facing the headboard. She didn’t have the faintest idea what he was up to, but knew better than to say no. Kylo looked to the side table and summoned a small remote that flew into his hand. 

“Ready for this.” He said casually, pressing a button on the remote.

Behind her Rey heard a small door open on the headboard. 

“You’re in for a treat.” Tazla sighed as two men’s cocks did their best to fill and stretch her to her fullest. 

Rey turned to look behind her and couldn’t believe what had emerged. A chrome rod had appeared with a silicone cock on the end. A perfect replica of what Ben and Kylo were blessed with sat level with Rey’s body, ready to pleasure her with mechanical precision. The idea of it… part of a machine inside of her instead of her lover… she found the idea more than a little intimidating. 

“I- I don’t think I-“

“Don’t think you can what?!” Tazla said, stilling both men by pressing each of her palms on their chests. All three of them stared back at Rey.

Tazla went on. “You’ve never had a toy before?” She turned her head back to Ben. “Nothing... besides yourselves?!”

Rey and Ben were speechless, unsure what to say to that. They’d had plenty of fun as far as they’d known, but they’d never really though about anything other than what they could do for each other. 

Tazla soon realized the issue.

“Ahch To” She said, her head falling back into Ben’s chest. “No access to the finer things. Congrats - here’s your chance.”

As Rey looked down at Kylo staring up at her from the bed, she suddenly realized the possibilities. That elusive feeling she’d fantasized about during sex but thought of as impossible… to be filled with her lover’s cock while his mouth pleasured the outside of her body would be the ultimate in erotic fulfillment... 

Before now, that had never been an option. Presented with that possibility, it was something she couldn’t say no to. 

“So… how do I-“ Rey stammered.

“Gods… Kylo help her.” Tazla demanded as she handed him the bottle, not wanting to be interrupted again. 

“Put this on it, get comfortable, and let me know when you’re ready.” He instructed her.

Rey turned to do as he’d said. She couldn’t believe she was doing this, and yet her curious side couldn’t wait to experience that elusive combination she’d imagined for so long. In her nervousness, she emptied quite a bit more than she needed to, making a mess of the pillows below. 

“I- sorry.” She stammered. 

Kylo chucked and Ben smiled over Tazla’s shoulder at her mishap. 

“Gods, forget the damn BED.” Tazla snapped. “With all we’ve done these sheets are hardly pristine.”

Something about Tazla’s impatience made Rey smile. At least she’d finally found a way to get under her skin. 

A few moments later Rey had the toy at her entrance, ready to enjoy a sensation she’d never felt before. She closed her eyes and pictured Ben behind her, kissing her shoulders and making love to her as if they were back home. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected as the lubed silicone slid into her body, but she was amazed how satisfying it felt. The replica was a perfect simulation of the man she knew well. 

As her body stretched around it she did her best to get used to the feeling. At first it felt a bit unnatural- something inside of her fixed and unmoving. Then, Kylo flicked the remote to turn it to the lowest setting. 

The movement was all that was needed to realize its benefit. 

Rey laid her head back down on Kylo’s chest below her as she got used to it. She heard his heart pounding as he watched her positioning herself. Unable to hold back, he reached under her and began teasing her nipples, their flushed, delicate flesh too beautiful to resist. The added stimulation helped her relax and open up. She found herself able to move and situate to find just the spot she wanted stimulated inside her body. 

Once she found where she needed to be- it was _heavenly ___.

Consistent mechanical precision slowly thrust away inside of her, pounding out an exacting rhythm that fulfilled her like nothing she’d ever experienced. She began to moan as ripples of pleasure worked their way through her body.

“Are you ready for me?” Kylo asked hungrily.

“Mmmhmmm.” Was all Rey could answer.

He moved to position himself back under her, leaning his head back to get his mouth right up under her where he needed to be. 

The second Kylo’s tongue touched her, Rey knew she was about to be destroyed for sexual experiences for the foreseeable future. Being thrust from behind by a perfect replica of her husband’s cock while his soft lips savored and tasted the most delicate part of her body was the single most pleasurable sensation she’d ever experienced. 

For a moment she raised her head. She stared up at Ben wide eyed, mouth open, overwhelmed by the waves of pleasure coursing through the inside and outside of her body. The wonder in his eyes as he gazed down at her was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. Kylo’s tongue took hold of her just how she liked it, and she soon felt her self rolling closer and closer toward coming undone. 

Together, the four of them rocked and writhed in a unified movement. Tazla taking both men’s cocks, Rey losing herself to the feelings of Kylo’s mouth, and the perfect precision driving into her from behind. 

Ben and Rey’s minds were swept away in a hurricane of sensations- The pleasure their bodies were experiencing, the sight of their lovers losing themselves on their dark sides- it was all more than either of them could handle. 

Kylo and Tazla sensed the surrender they’d hoped for all night building inside their lighter halves. It was all they needed to know they were close to the goal that had eluded them their first go round. 

“Nooooow you see…” Tazla hummed as she rocked slowly on both men. “Now you both see… all the dark side can do to you… all it can do _for ___you… Isn’t this _everything ___you ever wanted… but didn’t know you needed?”

Ben wasn’t sure where she’d found the strength to string so many words together. All he knew was how very much her words rang true. The feeling of Tazla’s tight flesh swallowing him up, the feeling of Kylo’s cock thrusting her with just a barrier of skin separating the two, the sight of his wife losing herself on Kylo’s mouth while being thrust into from behind- it was all beyond anything either of them would have been able to imagine on their own. 

This euphoric experience was something both he and Rey happily and desperately indulged in, knowing full and well they’d never have reached such depths of passion without their darker halfs. 

Tazla leaned her head back as far as she could and stared up at Ben upside down. 

_Don’t you love being with your real wife? ___She teased through their bond as she gazed up at him. Ben wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he wasn’t in a fit state of mind to question it.

Rey too heard the voice of her husband’s dark side in her mind. _That’s it my sweet little scavenger. Come undone for me again. Give yourself to the man who’d truly do anything for you- the man who offered you the galaxy. ___

Rey was happy to oblige as she felt the heat of an orgasm building inside her core. The calculated pressure that pushed at her bundle of nerves inched her closer and closer to it. She could scarcely breathe the closer she got to it. The intensity was so much she feared her mind might explode along with her body. At this point, she didn’t have the resolve to care.

“That’s it…” Tazla urged them both out loud. “Give yourselves to what you know to be the truth- give in to the things you truly need to fulfill your deepest desires. Holding back you’ll only be half of what you need, but together, we can have everything.”

Part of Rey didn’t know what she meant by that, yet part of her was afraid she knew all too well. 

Tazla sensed the first glimmer of fear in her light half. 

“It’s alright.” She assured her “We’ll all be one- one being in the force instead of separate beings struggling against each other. You’ll be freed from the prison we’ve had to put you in. Locked away from the world, only able to be half of what you could be… that’s no life for souls as powerful as ours. You both deserve so, so much more.” 

It took all of Rey’s strength to stammer her next words. “I… I think I’m done…”

“You and I both know better than that.” Tazla cut her off. 

Rey’s thoughts were interrupted as Kylo turned up the remote. He’d sensed her thoughts wandering from them and wasn’t about to let her have that option. To double her distraction he grabbed a tighter hold of her thighs as he lashed her cunt mercilessly with his tongue. Gods it was so, so _good ___…. How he still had any strength left in his mouth was beyond Rey’s understanding.

She felt her body aching with pleasure as a higher, fiercer rhythm threatened to push her over the edge again. 

_That’s it. ___Kylo said through their bond. _Surrender to it. Surrender to everything you know you are. ___

Who she knew she was… who was she again? Her mind could barely form thoughts let alone grasp a concept like identity.

“Don’t be afraid of who you are.” Tazla encouraged her. Where had she heard that before? A dream? A nightmare? Was this a dream? She wasn’t sure.

Rey looked out over the room, trying to form a complete thought as her mind inched closer to coming undone. 

There it was- the one truth she needed to see- Ben’s face staring back at her. 

Ben… the only truth she’d ever known. 

The look on his face made everything fall into question again. He looked just as lost as she was. The pleasure that rolled over him from what Tazla was doing to him had taken control of his mind two. 

Rey knew what she had to do. She had to fight the pleasure building inside her, she had to be stronger than it, to overcome it, to break free. “I- I think… I’m done.” She stammered again between gasps for breath.

Tazla lauged as she leaned back into Ben. “That’s a lie if I ever heard one.” 

Kylo pulled away for a moment as he spoke to her. “I’ve never lied to you Rey. Don’t lie to me. You and I both know it… we’re not done yet.” He dove back into her with a fierceness that had her toes curling.

Not done yet? Maybe… yes… it was too good. Rey knew she couldn’t stop yet. Those words he’d said to her in the snow… 

“The dark side is in our nature.” Kylo said between licks up into her cunt “Surender to it.” 

Ben bit his lip hearing himself say those words again, knowing how true they were.

It was a truth he’d danced around his whole life. He’d fought against it, been tortured by it, tried to understand it, did his best to learn to accept it…

Somehow none of it was ever enough. 

Somehow the dark always called him back for more, as it was doing now. It was taking everything he had to resist coming undone inside Tazla, fearing what that might mean. And yet, resisting the urge to come was all he was able to do. He couldn’t fully pull away. He couldn’t stop the pleasure of what he knew was inevitably leading somewhere… somewhere his soul kept pushing him toward, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. 

In the midst of mind numbing pleasure Ben and Rey looked up at each other, both realizing they were trapped. Somehow they’d both become controlled by their lust for more. Kylo and Tazla had them completely enthralled with the sensations that overwhelmed them, while also tormenting them with the idea that they’d never truly be satisfied until they fully surrendered to them.

They wanted to fight it, they wished they could fight it, but the more they tried to fight the better it all felt- and the more they realized it was no use. 

Kylo and Tazla were right about everything they wanted. 

There was absolutely no fighting the truth of who they are.

Tears of pleasure mixed with… regret? Shame? She wasn’t sure what emotion exactly… Tears of a mind completely overwhelmed with how right something so wrong could feel began to slide down Rey’s cheeks. 

Moments later, her body surrendered to another orgasm that blew her mind. 

Her vision went white as the heat of climax blinded her. In the midst of it, she had a memory of the man who now desperately held the most tender part of her body to his face- A time when she was the one who’d held the power between them as the life left his body. 

She’d healed Kylo and been a part of breaking him free of the dark side. Her love for the broken man that had hunted her mercilessly had been what had saved them both in the end.

Suddenly, she knew what she needed to do to be who she was meant to be. 

There would be no fighting. There would be no surrendering. Not this time.

To be who she was born to be she needed to _give ___.

She needed to _love ___.

As she came down from the heated bliss of climax, Rey pulled herself off the machine. She took the remote from Kylo’s hand and put it away. 

Kylo looked at her confused for a moment. 

“You’re right.” Rey said, finding her voice again. “We’re not done. We’re not anywhere near done yet.”

Tazla barely heard a word Rey said. Her focus had shifted fully to Ben. She could feel how consumed he was by all she was doing to him. Her lust for power over him had made her unable to notice what was happening to her husband as well. 

Ben’s lust began to calm as he sensed the shift in Rey- their minds being one, in that moment it all became clear. She’d found a way to shift what was happening, and he he needed to do the same. He needed to love Tazla just as she was. He needed to show her the kind of selfless devotion he imagined she’d never known. 

Tazla looked around for a moment as she felt the sudden change in the room. Her husband had stilled below her and now Rey was laying next to him and- wait… what was happening?!

Her senses were met with a strange calm as Ben whispered in her ear. “Now, let me show you something new.” Slowly he puled out of her, lifting her off her husband and into his arms. 

For a moment Tazla’s rage flared as she prepared to resist, but looking up into Ben’s eyes she saw something she’d never seen before- the eyes that looked down at her were full of selflessness, giving, true devotion to her. 

Though Tazla thought she’d known love during her life with Kylo- this was something else. 

Everything that came from those dark eyes soothed her soul in a way she didn’t know she needed. It was too strong, too good, too real to resist. 

As Rey laid down next to Kylo she began to kiss him slowly- a kiss of love, a kiss of appreciation for the man she knew he truly was. Kylo pulled away and stared back at her dumbfounded for a moment. Rey reached up to touch his face, just like she had at the beginning of the evening. Against everything Kylo thought he knew about himself, his body instinctively relaxed. He melted into her touch just as he had before.

As they laid together, Rey stared at him- tracing the outlines of his body, taking in how beautiful he was, kissing each scar she was sorry to see her dark side had ever given him.

“This one was my doing.” She said kissing the scar along his face and shoulder as she came to it. “I’m so sorry for that.”

Rey put her hand over his scar and healed it the way she had on the Death Star. Slowly, his other scars began to fade as his skin became as pure and untouched as Ben’s.

Kylo laid frozen in shock. He couldn’t understand what she was doing. His wife had never touched him this way, so gently, so warm, as if she’d gladly give the last breath in her body just to look at him like she was looking at him in this moment. 

As he saw his scars disappearing, he couldn’t understand how Rey had come by such power. He’d always thought of Tazla as the more powerful of the two, but he’d never seen her display such abilities. It had Kylo questioning everything he’d ever known.

Ben laid Tazla down on the other side of the bed. Slowly he began kissing Tazla’s hands. As his kisses moved up her arms arms, Tazla’s scars from her life as a scavenger began to disappear as well. 

Everything Tazla thought about herself told her she should be resisting, yet everything in her mind told her somehow this was right. She’d never felt so cared for by her lover, so valued, so seen- the sight of him taking the time to heal her scars with his own energy was the single most beautiful act of love she’d ever witnessed. It had her spellbound as she felt herself relaxing into the promise of Ben’s love. 

Ben and Rey could both feel that in their loving Kylo and Tazla, the brokeness that drove them began to melt away. Their infernal lust for power that could never be satisfied began to be replaced by the wholeness of being loved.

“That’s it” Ben asssured Tazla, sensing her resolve to fight back melting away. “It’s ok to let yourself be loved. You’ve always been loved, you’ll always be loved. You’re the love of my life and always will be.”

Rey climbed on top of Kylo again and slid him inside of her. She then pulled him up by his shoulders to hold him close to her as she rocked on him. She needed to be connected with him in this moment, to show him how connected they always had been and always would be. Somehow, instinctively, Tazla knew she needed to do the same. 

Both women ended up in the laps of their lovers, holding them close, feeling the warmth of their bodies radiating off them as they worked themselves back into a rhythm. This time the rhythm they found brought a new kind of pleasure- the pleasure of connection, the pleasure of oneness, the pleasure of feeling whole. 

Kylo gazed into Rey’s eyes with the same hunger that had driven her mad before, but this time the hunger was about something else. It wasn’t about a need to dominate and consume. His eyes burned into her with a need to be complete, a need to be loved. 

Tazla’s eyes burned into Ben’s with a similar hunger, a wonder almost. She was awestruck by the fact that the man she clung to was satisfying every desire she’d ever had. She thought she’d known exactly what she craved from a lover all this time, and yet the last person she imagined being able to fulfill her every need was doing just that. 

“I love you.” She said without thinking. The words were as much of a surprise to Ben as they were to her- a very welcome one. 

“I love you too.” He said smiling, leaning into her and burying his face hair. As her scent washed over him he was struck by how identical she was to Rey in every way. Holding her in his arms felt no different than the woman he loved, the woman he’d given his life to, the woman he belonged to in every way. 

Earlier that night, Tazla professing her love for Ben would have driven Kylo mad, yet the second her words left her lips Kylo was surprised by a new feeling- contentment. He was content in the knowledge that his wife loved his light side. He finally saw the same to be true for himself.

“I love you.” He said, holding Rey tightly as they rocked together in unison. 

“I love you too.” Rey replied, a smile coming over her lips. In her earlier life, those words from this man would have terrified and confused her. Now, they soothed her soul like few things she’d ever heard. It was everything she needed to hear- that the first person who’d ever made her feel alive loved her with everything he had. 

The confirmation of their deep love for each other drove both couples to new heights, beyond what any of them had ever known before. Their bodies were a tangle of legs and arms as their desire for each other grew. Each clung to the other more and more as they collectively sought the satisfaction their souls desperately needed. 

Together they rocked and pumped and moaned and drove into each other with the kind of primal need that made words no longer matter. Their hearts pounded and their chests heaved as their bodies reached for the fulfillment their souls desired. 

The closer the got, the more their bonds flickering and sparked with a new power none of them recognized. The moment before they tipped over the edge, all four knew they’d never be the same after whatever came next. 

Together, all four of them surrendered gladly. 

Both couples came together in a loving, passionate explosion that had each of them seeing through time and space. Tears streamed down Tazla’s face as she desperately clung to Ben. Kylo had tears in his eyes as well as he held Rey to his chest. 

Moments later, the four of them collapsed into the bed together. They laid in a tangled, twisted heap- looking back and forth at each other, basking in the glow of what just happened. 

For the first time in their lives, all four of them felt truly, deeply satisfied in every way. 

It was an especially unfamiliar experience for Kylo and Tazla- one they welcomed with open hearts. The dark Dyad felt truly happy for each other. They’d finally found what they needed to be who they were meant to be. 

What happened next was something none of them expected. Kylo and Tazla began to disappear, feeling themselves drifting into Rey and Ben. They didn’t fight back, no urge to fight existed. 

Becoming one with their light halves suddenly felt like something they expected, something they didn’t know they needed.

It felt like coming home.

As Kylo and Tazla disappeared, Ben and Rey looked at each other for a moment, unsure what had just happened. The one thing they were certain of was they felt more complete than they ever had. 

Suddenly their eyes began to shine green again, just like they were used to. 

The sight told them all they needed to know. 

The full power of their dyad had been realized. They’d learned how to balance the Force within themselves as their light and dark sides had become one. What started with Kylo and Tazla, had ended with Ben and Rey. Somewhere along the way, they’d realized they were all one in the same. 

The key to balancing the light and dark inside ones self, was learning how to love both. 

The warmth of that realization washed over them as they felt another familiar warmth on their cheeks. Their eyes fluttered open to find the light of Ahch To’s sunrises streaming in their window. It was time to start another day. 

It was the first day they’d face together knowing what it truly meant to be balanced in the Force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any Dark Crystal fans out there? Yes, you just read the Reylo smut version of the Dark Crystal finale. Hope you all enjoyed it! It's definitely the bravest thing I've attempted writing so far. ❤


	73. A New Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey talk about what all they learned from their dream, and how that will guide their teachings from now on.

Rey and Ben stretched awake, noticing quickly their bodies felt more invigorated than ever. Their minds had relaxed into a new kind of calm. A tension was missing- one so familiar they hadn’t noticed it being there until they realized it was gone. Their light halves had found true balance with their dark halves. The two sides of their souls had finally learned to coexist with each other as one. 

“That was something.” Ben said with a smile as he looked over at his wife. 

“Something indeed.” She mused. 

They both stared at each other for a moment, not sure where to begin. It was clear Rey’s dreams of the dark side had been something more than just dreams, but the how’s and why’s of what all they’d just been through were too great. 

Somehow, they knew this was a mystery they might never solve, nor did they need to. Whatever the purpose of the dreams, it had been achieved. 

Sometimes, that was all that mattered.

“It’s a bit ironic, really.” Rey went on as her thoughts shifted. “The Sith believed anger to be the most powerful emotion. I think we just achieved the greatest power possible through passion.”

“I think you’re on to something with that.” Ben said, his thoughts on the matter also coming together. “The Sith believed they’d be strongest by harnessing the power of their emotions, but they were missing the most important part- keeping their emotions balanced, not being controlled by them. They thought of the light as weakness, but loosing control was their real weakness. If they’d had the light to guide their emotions, to give them purpose and focus, they’d have had everything they needed to achieve the kind of power they desired.”

Rey quickly realized the irony of both order’s philosophies. “And the Jedi… they approached it from the opposite perspective. They thought being free from their emotions would be the path to true strength. It only made them blind to their instincts, the truth of who they were. Their failure to acknowledge emotions as a natural part of themselves led to their undoing. Had they allowed their emotions to guide them, if they’d listened to their instincts, they’d have achieved the kind of lasting peace they believed in. ”

“Peace… power…” Ben wrestled with the truth both ideals represented. “Both peace and power are needed to achieve balance. Peace without the power to protect the innocent leads to endless war. Power without peace… endless war again. Both sides of the Force are needed to keep the galaxy free.”

A simpler truth began to dawn on both of them, one they’d both sensed for a while. Ben was the first to voice it. 

“We should work on coming up with a new name for our order. Calling ourselves Jedi makes about as much sense as calling ourselves Sith.”

“Old habits die hard.” Rey said, realizing how comfortably they’d used a word that didn’t fit who they were as Force users in any way. “Whatever name we come up with, it will need to be something people believe in- as much as the term Jedi. Something that inspires hope for the kind of peace the Jedi gave the galaxy, even if it was only temporary.”

A name that inspired hope- it didn’t take long for both to think of one. 

“Skywalker…” Rey said, mulling over how it felt to say out loud. “The order of Skywalker…”

The literal meaning of the name hit Ben. “It fits pretty well with all we’ve been up to. Walking across the skies in the World Between Worlds- we’re literally people who walk across the sky.”

“A name that inspires hope, and a name that describes who we are… hard to think of anything more fitting.” Rey smiled.

“Skywalker it is then.” Ben said. “Uncle Luke will get a kick out of that.”

“I’m sure he will. How about we tell him about it over breakfast?”

“Sounds perfect.” Ben said looking towards the kitchen. “I’m starving.”

*****

Later that week Ben and Rey sat in the grass of the upper peninsula, watching as Finn and Jannah finished up a round of sparring. Seeing how freely their student’s powers flowed between them confirmed everything they’d hoped. Learning from the dark side, rather than just trying to keep it in check, was bringing true balance to all of their studies of the Force. 

“Not bad, sis.” Finn joked as they came over to take a break. Never having had siblings, the truth of their past lives was something they enjoyed teasing each other about. “All that extra practice is paying off.”

“Better watch out, I might just catch up to you one of these days.” Jannah replied, smirking. 

“Is that a promise or a threat?” Finn asked.

“A little of both.” she laughed. “So what’s up next?” she asked turning to their masters. “Something tells me today’s lesson isn’t quite over yet.”

“You’d be right.” Rey said, looking at Ben. They knew what they were about to propose would come as a shock to their students. Part of being balanced users of the Force meant getting to know ones dark side just as well as their light. It was time to teach Finn and Jannah the first step in that process.

“We’ve worked a lot with you two this week about getting to know your dark sides.” Ben began. “You both know by now you dark side is as much a part of you as your light. Your light side is your higher self, the part of you that helps you know the kind of person you want to be. Your dark side is your base self, who you are when all higher thinking is stripped away. The names we’re born with our are light selves, the people we want to be in the world. Our dark sides aren’t given names until we name them. Only we know that part of our self. By naming our dark sides, we give ourselves the power to know that side of ourselves.”

Finn and Jannah looked at each other, a bit unsure. 

Ben went on to make sure there was no misunderstanding. “I named my dark side under Snoke’s training. Snoke made me abandon my given name and fully become my dark side- Kylo. He was wrong to make me think darkness was all I had, but he was able to do that because my entire life up to that point I’d only ever been allowed to be Ben. I’d always been told I had to be pure light, an ideal too high for anyone to achieve. The idea that anyone can be purely light is as problematic as telling someone they’re nothing but darkness. Both the light and dark are needed to be our true selves.”

Rey felt a wave of pride for her husband wash over her as she listened to Ben describe the two sides so well. She knew how much work it had taken for him get to this point.

Ben went on as he came to the heavier part. “Palpatine and Snoke knew my dark side was so trapped and repressed he was bursting to break free. They used that in seducing me to fall to the dark. With all they’d put me through, naming Kylo and falling to the dark side felt like a relief. The relief was only temporary though. By becoming only Kylo and forgetting Ben I became a twisted, corrupted version of myself. I was only half myself- the half that operated on pure instinct and fear. I was totally out of control without the light to guide me. By knowing both parts of who I am now, I’m able to be my full, balanced self.”

“So, you want us to pick names for our dark sides, like Sith did when they fell to the dark?” Jannah was more than a little surprised by what their masters were proposing.

“That’s where the idea comes from.” Rey answered. “Of course that wont be your name you go by, just a name you use when you refer to your dark side. I discovered the name of my dark side through dreams about what our life would have been like had I fallen to the dark. Tazla was the name I would have chosen. Having a name for that part of myself helps me distinguish between the two. For example, it can be as simple as saying “Sorry, honey I was having a Tazla moment.” when anger gets the better of me.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Finn chuckled. 

“The point of all this,” Ben went on, “Is the idea that all emotions are valid and powerful. Your dark side is a valid and powerful part of who you are, but it has to be kept balanced by the light. Strong emotions aren’t a problem so long as they’re balanced with logic and higher thinking. By getting to know both sides of yourselves, by having a name for both sides, you’ll get a better idea of how to keep yourself balanced. Does that make sense?”

“I guess it does…” Jannah replied. “Now that you put it that way it does sort of make sense.”

“So how do we decide what to name our dark sides?” Finn asked.

“That’s totally up to you.” Ben explained. “When Snoke had me chose a new a name he said to pick what feels the most like your true self. When I was a kid I didn’t really like the name Ben. The name of an old Jedi master felt like too much to live up to. I used to daydream I’d call myself Kylo if I could pick my own name. It was the first thing that came to mind when I was told to pick a new name. Think of what you’d name your alter ego, whatever instinctually comes to mind when you think of yourself- that’s a good place to start.”

“Of course you don’t have to decide today.” Rey reassured them. “If it takes a little while to come up with something that’s totally fine.”

“An alternate name…” Finn said. “I went for a number most of my life now I get to have two names. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“Might take me a little while to pick one too.” Jannah added.

“That’s totally fine.” Ben assured them. “Take all the time you need. If you need our help just let us know.”

“In the meantime…” Rey said, coming to the next exciting topic. “We’ll need to get you two fitted for new robes. Once we finish up here we’ll head back to our hut so I can take your measurements.”

“Robes?!” Jannah asked. “Like what you two wear?” 

“Exactly.” Rey replied. “If we’re building a new order we might as well all look the part. Poe’s been hinting he wants us to talk to the capital soon about all they’re sending us. We’ll need to look our best if that’s the case.” Suddenly she looked over at Ben, remembering he wouldn’t be able to take part in that with them. 

Ben sensed her pang of guilt as soon as it hit her. “Don’t worry about me.” He said adamantly. “I grew up around enough politicians. You three can have all the fun with that you want. I can think of about a million other things I’d rather be doing.” 

“Fair enough.” Rey smiled.

“Breaaaaaggghhh” Chewie greeted the crew as he came over the hill, carrying three toddlers on his shoulders.

“We’re not too late to see some lightsaber action are we?!” Rose asked following him. Zorii was right behind her. As the sun highlighted her slender form the beginnings of her small bump became visible.

“Not at all!” Rey said waving them over. “We were just taking a break. Ben didn’t you have some things you wanted to show Finn before we finished up?”

“Right- let’s get to it.” Ben said hopping up.

A few moments their later purple and blue blades clashed as Ben led Finn through a series of maneuvers. 

“You know, I reeeeaaaally need to get up here more often.” Rose said with a sigh, taking in both men’s impressive muscled forms as they threw everything they had at each other. “This is some quality entertainment.”

“Tell me about it…” Rey grinned as the breeze blew back Ben’s hair, fresh sweat glistening off it’s waves. “It’s not a bad line of work, I gotta say.”

“I don’t know.” Jannah said cocking her head to the side. “I more prefer bookish, professor look myself. The more buttoned up the man, the more eager they are to have their clothes ripped off.”

Rose, Rey and Zorii burst out in laughter.

“Araaggghh!” Chewy hollered at them in protest.

“Sorry Chewy, we’ll keep it tame in front of the kids.” Jannah apologized, doing her best to quiet down. 

Suddenly a swarm of blue butterflies flew up the hill. They enveloped the three toddlers who jumped and danced around gleefully. The swarm turned and headed down the peninsula toward where Ben and Finn had ended up. The three little ones toddled after them out across the grass. Chewy went after them, doing his best to corral them away from Ben and Finn. 

Noticing the commotion, both men switched off their sabers for a moment to join the kiddos in their excitement. A couple landed on Ben’s hand which he brought down to show the toddlers. Rey’s heart melted as she watched them marveling together at the shiny blue creatures.

Zorii side eyed Jannah for a momant, eager to get back to their previous conversation. “So that’s what did it for you? The professor look huh?”

“Oh gods, yes.” Jannah exclaimed. “I’d spent my whole life around soldiers and fighters. I’ve seen more than enough of that to last a lifetime. Coming to the capital was like entering another dimension. I’d often meet up with Resistance friends for drinks after work. That’s when I met Beaumont. He’d come join us right after his last lecture of the day, looking all scholarly and professional. I’d never seen someone so… so polished, so put together. I thought what would a man like that ever want with a girl like me? Luckily I was wrong about that. It took him about a week or two to get the courage up to ask me to dinner but after that the rest is history.”

“That is so adorable.” Rose sighed. “I do love a good love story.”

Rey thought for a moment how different life in the capital would have been. It sounded so unlike anything she and Ben had never known. She remembered something she’d been meaning to ask her friends since her dream, and figured she’d found the perfect moment. 

“So…” She began, lowering her voice to almost a whisper. “Since all of you have lived in big cities, I have a question. Ben and I grew up… a little sheltered. Are there shops in cities…” She couldn’t think of how to phrase it.

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.” Zorii said, curious what this could be about.

“Shops for like… things people can enjoy together in the bedroom?”

“Sex shops?!” Jannah asked. “You’ve never been to one?”

“I haven’t really had the chance to.” Rey said, suddenly feeling a little naive.

“Right, sorry, that makes sense.” Jannah replied, remembering how very different life in the capital had been from the parts of the galaxy they’d spent most of their lives in. 

“To answer your question” Rose added, “Yes, there are. You can find all kinds of fascinating things in the more modern corners of the galaxy.” 

“Yes… you can.” Zorii said with a smile.

Rey quickly realized she was the only one of the four of them who’d never had the chance to explore the finer things as Tazla had put it. Rey looked out over the ocean for a moment. Ahch To was a dream beyond anything she and Ben could have ever hoped for, but a small part of her couldn’t help but wonder what all they were missing out on. 

Zorii noticed her friend’s hesitation. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious I guess.” Rey muttered.

“ _Just ___curiuos?” Zorii smiled at her, letting her know she could tell there was more to it.

Rey sighed, realizing there was no point in keeping this secret from her friends. “Jannah you’ve heard the clean version of this. I’ve had dreams for a while of what Ben and my life would have been like had I fallen to the dark side with him. There’s a good bit more to it than what we’ve told you and Finn about.”

“More too it, huh? Do tell.” Jannah said, scooting in closer. 

“There’s more to falling to the dark side than just wanting to rule the galaxy. Dark side users fully indulge in their passions to draw power from their emotions. It became pretty clear the first few dreams I had that sex was what Kylo and Tazla lived and breathed.”

“I knew it.” Jannah said, an even bigger smile coming across her face. 

“Wait who’s Tazla?” Zorii asked.

“That would have been my name if I’d fallen to the dark side.”

“Tazla huh?” Rose said, trying to imagine her friend with that name. “Damn... that’s hot.”

“You have no idea.” Rey sighed. “Tazla, my dark side, she was beyond wild. She’d do things to Kylo that I wouldn’t have imagined were possible.”

Her friends stared blankly at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

“Such as…?” Zorii pressed.

“I mean… I’d rather not go into the specifics.” Rey could feel her face getting hot. “Some of it got pretty dark, but there were some things I saw her use that, well, made me curious what sort of things might be available.”

Zorii paused for a minute, realizing her friend was too shy to come out and say what was on her mind. “So you’ve seen a few things that look like fun- and wonder how you can get your hands on the same stuff?” She asked.

“Yes.” Rey said smiling, relieved someone had said it for her. “Exactly.” 

“Don’t worry girl, we’ve got you.” Zorii assured her. “I’ll find you a shop catalog on the holonet. Let us know what looks interesting and the next time one of us heads to the capital we’ll sneak off and pick you up some goodies, won’t we ladies?” She said looking at the others.

“That sounds like a mission I can get behind.” Rose smiled.

“I’m in!” Jannah added.

“You would do that?!” Rey asked.

“Of course!” Zorii said. “You two have been through enough. You deserve to have a little fun.”

“Thank you… thank you so much.” Rey said smiling at her three friends. “I’m sure Ben will be grateful too once he gets wind of it.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” Rose laughed. 

“Now I just have to think of an excuse to get us back to the capital before the twins get here...” Zorii said, excited for a new challenge. 

Rey started to say something but noticed Chewie heading back their way with the toddlers, giving Ben and Finn the chance to get back to sparring. She quickly changed the subject to what they’d been working on that week with Finn and Jannah.

A few minutes later Rose looked down at their toddlers playing in the grass in front of them. She’d noticed Hana eyeing her mother’s light saber which was loosely clipped to her hip. Owan was watching his friend intently. Rose found it adorable how much the toddlers already connected as friends. Owan loved watching the girls every move, constantly taking mental notes on what skills he could learn from them next.

Rose’s joy turned to shock as seconds later Hana reached out and summonsed her mother’s saber. Rey's senses were a step ahead of her young daughter as she caught it in midair. 

“Nice try.” She said, smirking at Hana as she grasped the saber tightly. "I gotta remember to put a more secure clip on this thing for when they’re around.”

“I’ll say.” Rose said with a chuckle. 

Jannah instinctively reached down to get a grip on her saber- just in time to catch it midair as it flew off her hip.

The four women looked back at the toddlers to see who was responsible. Owan’s chubby hands were extended in front of him as he giggled at the women’s shock. He had been the one to summon it. 

A smile crept across Rey’s face as she realized what had happened. She looked back toward Ben and Finn.

“Finn!” She hollered, bringing the men to a pause. “I think you’re gonna have your hands full with this little one!”

“Huh?” He asked confused.

“Owan just tried summoning Jannah’s saber sweetheart!” Rose yelled. “You should have seen it!” 

Finn beamed as he looked back at his son. “I had a feeling that might happen one of these days.”

Ben patted Finn on the back. “Looks like we’ve found our next class of students.”

“Something tells me we’ve got out work cut out for us.” Finn sighed, igniting his saber again. 

“Tell me about it.” Ben said doing the same. Both were soon back to exchanging blows, knowing they now had even more reason to keep their skills sharp. 

Rose pulled Owan into her lap, kissing him on the cheek. “Two force sensitive men in the house. How did I ever get so lucky?!”

“Make sure to keep that in mind while baby proofing.” Rey added.

“Oh gods I didn’t think about that…” Rose said, her eyes going wide. “Guess we’d better get on that.”

Rey settled back in the grass as she took in the sight of her friend playing with her son. She too couldn’t help but think about how in a few years they’d be ready to begin training the next generation of Force users. Thankfully, the order they were building finally had a name that fit. 

From the ashes of what the Jedi and Sith had left behind, the Skywalker order would rise- an order to restore balance to the Force once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Together we will bring a new order to the galaxy." Turns out Kylo was on to something when he said that to Rey. He was just a little confused about the kind of order the galaxy needed. 
> 
> When I first heard the name "Rise of Skywalker" I'd hoped it had meant this- that Ben and Rey would start a new order and name it Skywalker. My theory is that's what we'll get eventually. I don't think Rey took the name Skywalker at the end of the film as a family name. I think she took it like Kylo took the name Ren during his time on the dark side- to signify he was a member of the order of Ren. Time will tell I guess... 🤞😊
> 
> Notes on canon:  
> When Ben explains how he came up with the name Kylo, that comes from canon information we learned in the Rise of Kylo Ren comics. Kylo was a name Ben had made up for himself as a child. 
> 
> Speaking of Ben's childhood, who's seen the new animated short "Ben Solo and the Bug Hunters"? Lucasfilm gave us a big hint that we'll be seeing grown up Ben again in canon with this cartoon as blue butterflies are symbolic of resurrection. The future is looking bright for our OTP!
> 
> Here's the cartoon for those who haven't seen it:  
> Part 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1XgODBkwGg  
> Part 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS7H75jQu0A
> 
> And part three just got released today! Yay! https://youtu.be/ADpWY2mCM_M
> 
> Here's an article on the symbolism behind blue butterflies for anyone that is interested. https://www.overstockart.com/blog/the-symbols-of-renewal-rebirth-resurrection-and-transformation-in-art/


	74. Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey take another trip into the World Between Worlds. Rey discovers secrets of her past she'd never expected. Where they find themselves next was the last place they'd planned to visit, but after all they'd seen, they both know it's exactly where they need to be.

“You’re sure you’re ready for this?” Ben asked as they stepped into the World Between Worlds, tools freshly tuned and ready for their next attempt at traveling through time. “We can always try somewhere else first if you’re not sure.”

“Sweetheart, I’ve waited for this my entire life.” Rey assured him. She didn’t know what they’d see navigating back to the day she was born, but Rey knew above all else she was ready to try. 

The previous day had been spent using the legacy saber to travel to Jakuu and rifle through Plutt’s outpost in the middle of the night. His office- if it could be called that- had been a mess of records of all the things he’d salvaged, sold, and stolen over the past several decades. Among it all they’d been able to find just what they were looking for- a record from the day Rey’s parents had left. 

There wasn’t much to the only written information that had proved Rey’s existence during her early life, but what they’d found was everything they’d needed. Birth date and home world were listed. Rey’s instincts were confirmed as she read the word “Naboo”. Discovering the names of her parents, Amara and Varis, had felt like the most precious piece of information of all. 

Together Ben and Rey dialed their tools to where they needed to be. They took hands and journeyed back through time, hoping to land on the day Rey had come into the world.

Tall stone columns materialized around them as they came to a stop. They found themselves inside the long hallway of a palace, flooded with sunshine by towering arched windows on their left. Doors to what Rey imagined were equally elegant rooms were spaced along the wall on the right. Taking in how grand the space was, Rey figured they must have been off again. The planet they found themselves on felt like Naboo, but she couldn’t believe she’d have been born in such an extraordinary place.

“I really thought we had it this time.” She said looking down at the compass. 

The hungry cries of a newborn suddenly spilled from an open doorway nearby. 

“We may have been right after all.” Ben said.

Rey wasn’t convinced, but followed Ben to find the source of the cries all the same. 

The sight she found as they entered the bedroom together took her breath away. She instantly recognized her mother from her visions, resting in the largest bed she had ever seen. She’d just opened her elegant lace robe to feed the tiny baby in her arms. Cuddled up next to the two of them was her father, who stared down in wonder at his newborn daughter.

“Isn’t she incredible?” Amara asked, gazing into her daughter’s sleepy little eyes as she fed. 

“Absolutely incredible.” Varis said smiling, kissing his wife on her forehead. “I’m so proud of you sweetheart.”

“I never could have done it without you.” She said looking up at him. 

A flurry of nursemaids and nurse droids shuffled throughout the space, caring for mother and baby and attending to their every need. Rey was stunned to see how comfortably her parents had lived when she’d come into the world. 

“This doesn’t make sense…” Rey said. “How were they…” she couldn’t get the words out. 

“How were they what?” Ben asked, confused by her pause.

“Like this, living… _here ___.” She paused for a moment as she looked around, taking in the size of the room. “The one vision I’ve had of them they were dressed in rags on the run. Seeing them here … how could they have lived in such a place?!”

“Let’s find out.” Ben said. He reached his hand out and gently looked into her father’s mind, seeing his happiest memories, reading his identity, his sense of home….

Rey’s father sat up for a moment, scratching his head as he looked around. Something had startled him, but he shook it off as the nerves of a new father. He settled back into the bed to continue admiring his newborn daughter. 

Through their bond Ben shared all he was seeing with Rey. 

How her father had been raised by droids and nursemaids in the palace they were in now…

How he’d been told his whole life he was the last surviving heir of the Cordona line, an old Nabooian aristocratic family…

How he and her mother had met at the annual ball held at the palace of Theed in honor of the queen’s birthday…

How they’d fallen in love, married, and decided to start a family...

“He had no idea who his father was…” Rey muttered out loud as her father’s memories flew through her mind.

“Does that surprise you?” Ben asked.

“Not really when I think about it. We can both sense he doesn’t have the Force. Palpatine probably didn’t feel like he had a use for him other than keeping him comfortable. Not until…” Her stomach sank as she came to the realization.

“Not until what?”

“Not until he had a Force sensitive daughter.”

Ben swallowed hard as he looked back at Rey’s parents. They both knew it to be true. Palpatine didn’t have any reason to care about what his son was up to until he had something he truly wanted. 

As if on schedule, a few moments later they both sensed a dark presence they knew well enter the room. Somewhere, Palpatine was checking up on his son via the Force. He saw his infant granddaughter in her mother’s arms, and felt how strong she was with the Force. Moments later the presence was gone, having seen what he needed. 

“That monster…” Rey said, her jaw tightening. “This was the happiest day of their lives and he couldn’t leave them alone.”

Ben wasn’t sure what to say. The idea of Palpatine targeting infants wasn’t a new one, but the thought of him doing it to Rey made a rage flare in him like few he’d ever known. 

Their thoughts were interrupted as the scene before them sped up. Time began to pass quickly. The Force had something else it wanted to show them. 

As the scene slowed back down Rey’s parents were cuddled around their sleeping daughter, tucking her in for the night. The amount of time that had passed was confirmed with what her mother said next. 

“Sweet dreams my darling. I can’t believe you will be one year old tomorrow.”

“Our little Rey of sunshine…” Her father said, kissing his daughter on the cheek. “It’s been the happiest year of our lives.” Little Rey shifted in her sleep for a moment, breathing in deeply. She soon settled into her pillow and fell into a deep sleep. The blissful moment was cut short as a protocol droid entered the room. 

“Master Varis” The droid spoke up. “I’m so sorry to disturb you at this hour. An urgent message has arrived for you. I’ve left the holochip with the message in your office.”

“Thank you A6, I’ll make sure to look at it first thing in the morning.” Varis replied.

The droid was insistent. “My apologies sir, but the droid who delivered it was adamant that you receive it tonight and respond as soon as possible.”

He looked back at A6 confused for a moment, then back at his wife, wondering what the message could be about.

Rey’s mother smiled. “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m sure it’s nothing. Go check and see what it is and we’ll be right here when you get back.”

Rey’s father kissed his wife on the forehead and quickly went to see what the message was about. 

Rey and Ben followed him down a couple palatial hallways to his office. His office was every bit as grand as the bedroom they’d just left. A sleek, rounded desk sat in the middle, framed by large windows that looked over several waterfalls. The white water of the falls glowed in the moonlight as it tumbled over the cliffs. Rey imagined she could get quite a bit of studying of texts done in a space as beautiful as the one they found themselves in. 

Varis got settled at his desk and clicked on the holomessage. A hooded figure appeared in the hologram, the sight making him shift uncomfortably in his chair. Someone who felt the need to keep their appearance so hidden would have made anyone nervous.

“My boy…” the message began. 

Ben’s skin crawled at the sound of those two words. The way he referred to his own son like he’d referred to him on Exegol- It was clear he didn’t see people as anything more than what they could do for him. Whether it was his own son or someone else’s son he’d stolen away, Palpatine didn’t care. Everyone belonged to him as far as he was concerned. 

“It’s time for you to learn the truth of who you are.” The message went on. “You were raised to believe you are the last of a line. In a way, that is true. You along with everyone in the galaxy know my name well. I am Sheev Palpatine, and you are my son. I ruled the galaxy for most of your life. My reign was cut short when my apprentice’s son attempted to usurp my power, but it is no matter. Skywalker only delayed what is inevitable. His efforts and those of his pathetic family to restore the republic will all be in vain.” The emperor paused gathering his thoughts. The mere mention of the Skywalker line made his rage spike.

“On a more... delightful note…” He went on, his tone suddenly lighter. “I’m aware a celebration is in order. My granddaughter has reached her first birthday. You may not have inherited my powers but I have long sensed that she has. To fulfill her destiny in the Force, you and your wife Amara must join me now on Exegol where she will be raised as my heir. With this hologram you will find all you need to make your way through the unknown regions to join me. Refuse me, and I will hunt you both down and take the girl myself.”

With that Rey’s father switched the hologram off, cutting the message short. 

It was everything every Nabooian lived in constant fear of- the realization of a connection to the monster who’d become the Emporer, a monster who’d come from their own planet. 

The connection he’d just discovered was the worst imaginable, and the horror of it cut through him like a knife. 

For a moment he sat frozen in disbelief, staring at the space where a hologram of the Emperor had just stood. His hands began to shake as he brought them to his face, hanging his head in his hands. Everything he’d ever known had been proven to be a lie, and because of it his family was now in mortal danger. 

Suddenly he jumped to his feet, realizing what needed to be done. He did his best to appear calm as he made his way back to his wife and daughter. He didn’t want to alert any of the staff to the fact that he was in a rush to get somewhere. 

As he came into the bedroom, he looked around to make sure they were alone. Seeing it was just Amara and Rey as he’d left them, he shut the door behind him and spoke. “Amara, we have to go, we have to leave… now. “

Amara sat up, puzzled by her husband’s alarm. “Leave? Now? Sweetheart what are you talking ab-”

“The message I just received…” His eyes raced around the room as he tried to figure out how to deliver the horrible news he’d just been given. He fished the holochip out of his pocket and replayed the first part of the message.

Amara’s face filled with horror as she learned the truth. She reached over and pulled Varis to her, the words too terrible to hear alone. He clicked it off as it came to the part about hunting them down

“What… what do we do?” She asked, gazing up at him in a panic.

“We have to run. Pack whatever we can bring of value to sell to live on but make it quick. I’ll have our ship ready to go in an hour. Then, we leave. We’ll trade it for an unmarked ship at the first port we-”

“But wait, sweetheart-” She interrupted him. “Surely there’s another way. My family, they can help us. They know powerful people all over the galaxy and-“

“This isn’t just some Nabooian political scandal we’re running from.” He cut her off. “This is the _Emperor ___. The man who brought the galaxy to it’s _knees ___. The man that lorded over _Vader himself ___. There isn’t anyone in the galaxy who can protect us from him. Our only option is to hide, to run while we still can.”

Amara’s eyes filled with terror as his words sank in. She realized how true they were. “I’ll be ready to leave in an hour.” She said. 

The scene around them began to blur again as time flew by. Ben and Rey saw how Rey’s family had lived the next four years- selling her mother’s jewels to live off of, scraping by on as little as possible, hiding out in different space ports, trading ships as often as they could. They never knew a consistent home or way of life, always running to stay one step ahead of those who hunted them. 

One day their worst fears were realized. They’d come to a market to sell another small family heirloom, a broach that had been given to Amara on her wedding day by her mother. A figure Rey recognized as Ochi spotted them and followed them through town for a while. Realizing they were being watched, Amara and Varis got back to their ship as quickly as they could and left the planet. They’d got away for the moment, but knew they’d been found. 

Rey didn’t need to see what happened next. She knew exactly where this led. 

She grabbed the legacy saber on her hip and pulled herself and Ben out of the timeline they were on, back into the World between Worlds. She’d relived the moment she’d been left on Jakuu enough times for one lifetime and didn’t need to go through it again.

As endless stars stretched out around them, she collapsed to sitting with her head in her hands. Ben silently sat down next to her and began rubbing her back. 

Rey wanted to cry, but for some reason she couldn’t. She’d already cried so many tears over the years over the family she’d lost. Crying had never brought them back. Crying would never bring them back. No amount of tears would change the fact that she would never see them again. Nothing could change the fact that they never got to have the kind of life she and Ben had- a life of peace to watch their family grow.

Her mind spun as she thought of all those war had stolen happiness from. All the people just like themselves who’d wanted nothing more than to be left alone together, all the couples who’d had happiness ripped away from them because of other’s greed. 

She briefly wondered for a moment if there was a way to save her parents, to bring them back and give them the chance of a life together.

She knew the truth in her heart as soon as she’d had the thought. 

If she interfered with the events that led up to her parents death, it could alter Ochi’s path as well as her own. She may never find the dagger on Pasaana... Ochi could get lucky and find her first... 

If she altered her parents path, her own path may be put in jeopardy and she may disappear- or worse- end up on the dark side like the Tazla of her dreams. 

She knew her parents sacrifice had to happen, and knew they had chosen it willingly to protect her. Being a mother herself, she knew just how willingly they’d made that choice. Somehow, that small peace was enough to comfort her as she came to terms again with her parent’s fate.

Rey did her best to settle her thoughts and make peace with all she’d just been through. She’d known looking into her early life would bring up painful memories, and had done her best to prepare for that. Though the realization of where she’d spent her earliest days came as a shock, the rest had been nothing new.

Suddenly her mind drifted to a memory from their last visit to the World Between Worlds- the couple they’d seen on the beach. 

Like her parents, they’d been one of the many throughout time who’d had their chance at happiness ripped away from them. Rey wondered for a moment who they’d been, what had led them to that end, and where they would have gone together if they’d made it off the planet alive.

It was clear they’d been heroes of the Rebellion- victims of the destruction of a base the Empire found threatening enough to obliterate. No one had been there in their final moments to see them die together…

Nothing would have been left of them afterward… 

No one would know if someone snatched them away in their final moments...

Every trace of their existence had disappeared as soon as they’d died. 

Rey lifted her head as the thought filled her mind. She looked over at Ben as a wave of resolve hit her.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” Ben asked, confused by her sudden calm after what they’d just seen. 

“I’m fine…” she said, blankly staring off into the stars. 

She might not be able to save everyone who’s lives had been cut short by the cruelty of war, but maybe she could give two people a chance. 

Rey’s thoughts were so strong and clear Ben sensed them immediately. He was proud to see her letting herself be led by her instincts. It was something they’d worked on together for a long time since they first began working on channeling and understanding their emotions together. 

Whereas the Jedi had always taught detachment, they’d found the truth of listening to their emotions at times to be a vital one. Being fully controlled by ones emotions as the Sith taught was never a good thing, but to allow ones self to be guided by them without losing reason- that was the best way of finding one’s path. 

Sometimes their hearts had things to tell them that their heads hadn’t realized yet. 

Ben stood with Rey as she got to her feet, grasping the legacy saber again. As she looked up at him she realized she didn’t need to explain her actions. He’d already sensed her thoughts and was on the same page. 

They held the saber together and visualized the beach where they’d witnessed the Death Star’s destruction first hand. They felt themselves being pulled back through time, to the moment they’d left the couple on the beach together. 

Blue sky appeared above as water stretched to the horizon. The water began to disappear as the familiar glowing cloud sped towards them. The couple had already found their spot where they’d collapsed together on the beach 

Jyn and Cassian held each other close as they resigned themselves to their fate. Jyn knew she only had a few more moments with Cassian and held on to him as tightly as she could. Her mind was flooded with the thoughts of all they could have had together had their lives been different.

Sooner than they expected they felt themselves fly backwards away from the water. Rather than being consumed by a burst of energy, they each felt as if a hand had grabbed them by the shoulders and pulled them back. As they felt themselves pulled back into darkness, the roar of the destruction of the world around them went silent.

“That was painless”, Jyn thought as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She’d expected death by a fiery cloud of destruction to be far worse than whatever had just happened. 

They looked around them at a starry expanse that stretched out in all directions. Was this the after life? Jyn didn’t know what she had expected, but it hadn’t been this.

As they let go of each other they were shocked to see two people staring down at them. They were wearing grey robes, similar to the kind Jyn had seen Jedi wear in old drawings. Angels? She thought- Jedi must be guardians of the afterlife.

“Hi” The woman said with a kind voice “I’m Rey, and this is my husband Ben.” 

Jyn and Cassian stared up at them dumbfounded. 

“You’re hurt…” Rey said, seeing the injury to Cassian’s right leg. “Here let me help you” She knelt down and ripped open his pant leg to get a better look at his injury. 

“You’re a healer?” Cassian asked, unsure why he still needed a healer in the after life. 

“You could say that.” Rey said looking over his injury. The pain still shooting through his leg was first indication he had that this probably wasn’t the afterlife. Somehow, after being blown away by the Death Star, they were still inside their physical bodies. 

The shock of realizing they might still be alive was nothing compared to what came next. After looking over his injury for a moment Rey held her hand on it. Cassian braced himself expecting pain, but instead felt relief as his pain disappeared entirely. When Rey lifted her hand he stared in shock at his perfectly healed leg. Where moments before he’d been bleeding profusely, there wasn’t a single scratch on his skin. 

“How did you do that?!” Cassian asked amazed. 

“Just transferred a bit of Force energy from me to you.” Rey replied. 

“So… what are you, a Jedi?” Cassian asked, wondering if the legends he’d heard about them were true. 

“Not exactly.” Rey replied. 

“Wait, what is going on?” Jyn spoke up, “What is this place and how did we get here?”

“This is the World Between Worlds.” Ben said. “You’re both still alive, just in another dimension outside the one you knew.”

None of what he’d just said made any sense to either of them. Jyn and Cassian looked at each other completely confused, unsure of what to make of where they found themselves. 

“World between _what ___worlds?!” Cassian asked

“This is a realm between the world of the living and the world of the dead.” Rey explained. 

“So we’re only half dead?” Jyn asked, now even more confused as to what was going on.

“You’re fully alive” Rey assured them, trying to think of the best way to explain where they found themselves. “Ben and I, we’re Force users who’ve been using the World Between Worlds to travel through time together. We witnessed your death on the beach during one of our travels and came back to save you. We saved you by pulling you off that beach into the World Between Worlds with us the moment before you would have died.”

“Thanks for that.” Cassian said, unsure what else to say. None of what he just heard made any sense other than they were alive and had Ben and Rey to thank for it.

“So we’re not dead…” Jyn couldn’t believe what she was hearing. 

“Definitely not dead.” Ben assured her. “I know you two have a lot of questions. How about we explain it all when we get back to our time?”

“What time would that be?” Cassian asked.

Ben and Rey looked at each other. There was no avoiding the shock they were in for. 

“Our time, the present day, is 37 years after the moment you died.” Rey replied.

The trauma of the ordeal they’d just lived through combined with the shock everything they’d just seen and heard suddenly became too much for their minds to grasp. The stars around them began to disappear. Jyn and Cassian’s worlds went black as they simultaneously passed out from shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like the Ahch To crew is getting two new recruits! While we're fixing TROS, I figured we might as well fix a few other endings along the way... 😉


	75. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jyn and Cassian meet the crew and do their best to get used to a new reality.

As Jyn’s eyes fluttered open she found herself laying next to Cassian on a grassy hillside peppered with white and purple wildflowers. Ocean waves crashed into rocky cliffs below as a sea breeze blew her hair back. 

“Cassian” She said shaking him. “Cassian wake up.”

Cassian shot to sitting straight up as he came to. “What- How’d we get here?!” He asked as he looked back down at his leg. Sure enough it was still healed. 

“I- I don’t know-“ Jyn replied, looking down over their very real bodies sitting on a very real hillside. “It’s clear we’re not dead. We’re definitely not dead. Cassian, somehow… we survived!”

The joy of that realization made their hearts burst as they wrapped their arms around each other in as tight of an embrace as the one they’d shared on Scariff. Tears filled their eyes as the idea of a second chance at life washed over them.

Suddenly Cassian pulled away. He stared at Jyn for a moment, as if torn between what to do next. 

“What are you doing?” Jyn asked.

“What I should have done on that damn beach.” He said. He held her close as he pulled her in to kiss her as passionately as he’d dreamed of doing so several times before, but had been too overwhelmed by his sense of duty to their mission to let happen.

Now, there was nothing distracting them, nothing keeping them apart- and he intended to keep it that way. 

Jyn melted into the feeling of his lips on hers. What she’d been too afraid to let happen before suddenly became all that mattered in the galaxy . The prospect of imminent death, followed by the realization that they’d been given a second chance together was all they needed to know that nothing was more important than the feeling of being in each others arms.

Sitting at a distance on the hill above them Rey wiped a tear from her cheek as she leaned into Ben. Ben put his arm around her and held her close. The kiss Jyn and Cassian were sharing reminded them so much of the first kiss they’d shared, just moments after Ben had brought her back to him on Exegol. Bringing back fallen war heroes hadn’t been part of their plan the first time they landed on Scariff, but seeing Jyn and Cassin together they realized the Force had put them there for a reason. They had just given another couple the chance at happiness that they had, one they too had once feared they’d never get to have. 

As their kiss came to an end Ben and Rey got up to go join them to let them know they weren’t alone. 

“You two feeling better I take it?” Rey asked as they got to them.

Jyn and Cassian’s gaze snapped to look up behind them. Their apparent saviors were standing on the hillside above them.

“Better than Scariff.” Cassian replied “I think I’m going to need you two to explain one more time how we got here.”

“We thought you might say that.” Ben replied smiling. 

*****

About an hour or two later the four walked up the hill together after having gone through the basics of what had brought them there. Rey was full of emotion thinking of the story she’d just heard from their new friends about what had led them to the moment they'd found them on the beach. She and Ben felt incredibly humbled to have met heroes from a time they’d never known. The Force had indeed known what it was doing when it gave them the opportunity to bring them back. 

If anyone deserved a second chance at happiness, it was two of the people who’d been instrumental at bringing down the one of the worst super weapons the galaxy had ever seen.

Walking up the hill, Jyn still couldn’t believe where she found herself, nor could she understand any of what their new friends had just described. 

Vergences, worlds between worlds, time travel… none of it made sense. They might as well have told them that time wasn’t real and everything she’d ever known her whole life had been a figment of her imagination. 

On top of all that, Jedi had returned and were marrying eachother now. No, not Jedi- “Skywalkers” was what they’d called themselves. 

More than a few things had changed since they’d left the beach on Scariff. The one thing she was sure of was their transmission had made it out, she was still very much alive, and Cassian was here with her. 

Wherever they found themselves, that was all that truly mattered. 

At the top of the hill they came upon a quaint stone village that made Jyn think of something out of a myth. Four friends sat in the plaza together watching two more Force users practicing with light sabers. She’d never seen a real light saber before, but knew enough from stories to know one when she saw one.

Poe looked back as Ben and Rey came into the plaza. Shock came over him as he saw they were followed by two people he didn’t recognize. 

“Were we expecting visitors today?!” He asked as he jumped up.

Jannah and Finn’s sparring session came to a sudden halt as everyone in the plaza turned to stare in shock at the first two humans other than themselves they’d seen in months. 

Jyn insintcively took Cassian’s hand, suddenly overwhelmed by the sight of six strangers gawking at them. 

“Guys,” Ben spoke up. “This is Jyn and Cassian.”

Poe instantly recognized Cassians’ Rebel fighter jacket as identical to the one his father had worn when he was a child. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what had happened. 

He sighed as he looked at Ben and Rey. “So you two are bringing people back from your trips through time now, I take it? Will they be staying for dinner or-“ 

“They’ll be staying forever and we’re lucky to have them.” Rey said firmly. “These two are the reason the Rebellion was able to take down the Death Star. We owe all of them our lives. The least we can do is welcome them to Ahch To as one of us.”

“One of us…” Poe said confused. “So… they’re not just here for dinner?”

“No” Ben confirmed. “We figured we could use another hand or two on the island. Who better to bring back than Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso?” 

Poe’s eyes went wide as he recognized the names of heroes from a story he’d been raised on as a kid. He’d believed Ben and Rey about all they’d been up to traveling through time, but this made it far more real. “So wait- you two are Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor? The Jyn and Cassian- as in Rogue One Jyn and Cassian?!”

The two of them looked at each other confused. “That’s us.” Cassian replied.

“Gods…” Poe said shaking each of their hands. “I- It’s a pleasure to meet both of you. What an honor… I head stories about you two from my folks growing up. Did…” He looked at Ben and Rey. “Did these two tell you what year it is?”

“They filled us in.” Jyn said, still a little overwhelmed by their new reality. “Although we’re still getting used to the idea. I’m sure we’ve still got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Where do you even begin…” Poe said looking back at the group, scratching his head. “Let’s get you introduced to everyone first.”

Soon Jyn and Cassian had met their new group of friends, though it would take some time to get all of their the names down. Jyn leaned into Cassian as they sat together watching Finn and Jannah sparring. Being pulled from a war zone and thrown into a relaxed afternoon on an island somewhere was a little unsettling at first, but it was a reality they both welcomed gladly. 

The group did their best to catch them up on the past 40 years of history. Jyn tried to listen but had a hard time focusing. All she wanted to do was relax and get used to the idea that she and Cassian weren’t in the middle of a war anymore. Holding his hand was all she needed to remain present as the stories of wars they’d never lived to see droned on around them.

As Poe came to a part about joining the Resistance and following in his parents footsteps it dawned on Cassian this was the next generation of fighters that had taken up their fight. The thought that the war had raged on that long was a hard one to swallow. At least they were here to tell the tale. That was all he needed to know things had gone the way they’d hoped.

“So wait-“ Cassian interupted Poe. “All of you are children of people who fought in the Rebellion? Who were your parents?”

“Not all of us.” Rey clarified, hesitant to reveal her own lineage just yet. “Some of us are. Poe here is the son of Shara and Kes Dameron. Ben is the son of Leia and Han Solo, And Jannah is the Daughter of Tendra and Lando Calrissian”

“Huh…” Cassian said. “They must have joined after our time. Can’t say I recognize any of those names…” Suddenly it hit him why Ben looked a little familiar. 

“Leia Solo… is that the married name of Princess Leia of Alderaan?”

“You knew my mom?” Ben asked.

“I didn’t know her well. She was just barely old enough to go on her first mission last I remember. I knew her father, Bail Organa…” Cassian paused as he calculated the ages of where everyone he’d known would be now. “Bail must have passed on from old age by now. How old is Leia?”

“She passed away three years ago.” Ben said solemnly.

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Jyn replied. “You must have older siblings then?”

“No, I’m an only child. Why?”

Cassian and Jyn looked at each other confused. 

“Wouldn’t that make you the king of Alderaan?” Jyn asked. “How did you end up here instead of ruling your home planet?”

It was a reminder of just how much had changed in the galaxy over the past 37 years.

“Alderaan was the first planet the Death Star tested its full power on.” Ben informed them. “There were no survivors other than those who were off world. My mom survived because she was Vader’s prisoner at the time.”

Jyn and Cassian sat speechless, afraid to ask what was on both their minds. Finally Cassian spoke up. “How many planets did it take out?”

“None other than Alderaan.” Poe replied. 

Rey could tell their new guests were becoming more than a little overwhelmed. She figured she’d better get them somewhere comfortable so they could rest.

For a moment she thought to offer them their loft, but remembering the trauma they’d just come from, and the kiss they’d shared on the hillside, she had a good feeling they’d want more privacy.

“Poe- the captain’s quarters on the freighter, do you think our guests could stay there for a bit?” Rey asked, bringing the heavy silence to an end.

“Sure.” Poe answered. “That’s probably the most comfortable spot on the island that’s not occupied.”

“Perfect.” Rey said. “You two want to head down that way? We’ll grab you two some dinner from our place. I’m sure you can catch up on the rest of the past 40 years some other time.”

“Sure, yeah , that would be great.” They muttered. 

The offer of somewhere to crash was a welcome relief from the social anxiety they’d suddenly felt overwhelmed by. Being thrown into a group children of people they’d known- who now appeared to be their own age- was just another shock in a long line of surprises they’d had that day. They were more than ready to find somewhere comfortable and let the surprises come to an end. 

*****

Ben and Rey did their best to excuse themselves quickly after dinner, promising to come check on their guests in the morning. Jyn didn’t mind the quick exit one bit. As grateful as she was to the people who’d saved them from certain death, the sooner she could be alone with Cassian the better. 

It took all her energy to walk back to the captain’s quarters and collapse on the bed. She laid there for a few minutes, looking at the door as the days events replayed in her mind. She waited for Cassian to come join her, knowing his presence would be the only thing to silence the scenes that kept playing in her head. 

Eventually he appeared in the doorway. The look on his face let her know he as every bit as overwhelmed with the days events as she was. He looked utterly lost as he walked over to her, kissed her on the forehead, and told her goodnight. In his haze he then turned to leave.

Jyn reached up and grabbed his hand to stop him. “Where are you going?” 

He looked down at her hand that had stopped him for a moment, surprised. “I- do you want me to stay?” He asked hopefully. 

She leaned her head to the side, making sure he understood her fully. “I am not spending my first night several decades in the future alone.” 

Cassian smiled as he collapsed into bed next to her, his mind still reeling from the events of the day. He still couldn’t believe where they found themselves… alive… together… on a beautiful island in the middle of nowhere… with absolutely nothing to worry about other than how they were going to enjoy the rest of their lives. 

It was hard to believe any of it was real. 

Jyn propped herself up next to him on her elbow, realizing what his hesitation might be about. “You’re not used to people sticking around when things go bad either, are you?”

“Not exactly” he replied. It turned out the woman of his dreams knew him better than he thought. 

“Welcome home” she said as she crawled on top of him to kiss him. 

Artist Credit: Flickerflame

*****

Ben and Rey sat together on their deck with the girls, looking down at the freighter.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Rey asked, coming to terms with all their friends would have to deal with as they got used to a new time.

“I’m sure they will.” Ben said. “There’s no better place then Ahch To to get used to a new reality.”

Rey knew just how true that was.

As she was about to say something, they both sensed a faint hint of strong emotion coming from the freighter. It was like seeing a light beginning to flicker in a home that was miles away. They instantly put up walls, shielding their minds to give their new friends the privacy they deserved.

“There you have it.” Ben said with a smile.

“Just fine indeed.” Rey agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been working on these two chapters for a while aside from the others. Hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Props to Preacher2125 for guessing where I was going with the Rogue One references before I got to it. I did my best to play dumb in the comments lol. Hope it was convincing! 😂 ❤︎


	76. Built on Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben do their best to help Jyn and Cassian get used to life on the island. The rest of the crew plan a trip back to civilization.

A week after arriving on the island, Jyn and Cassian watched in awe as Ben and Rey demonstrated skills in the Force that made bonfires a whole lot more fun than they'd ever known possible. Their new friends were celebrating their arrival on the island with dinner made over the fire pit in the village plaza. Together they’d done their best to settle into their new life, though the idea that they were almost 40 years in the future was still a very new one. 

They’d spent their first few days on the island relaxing as much as possible-taking their time getting up in the morning, exploring the island together, and above all else spending as much time as they could alone together. After a few days of that, their minds had become restless as curiosity got the better of them. They’d spent the last few days learning all they could about the decades they’d missed out on from whoever was available. 

The biggest shock of all had come when Ben and Rey had sat with them one afternoon and explained the reason why they’d chosen a life of exile on an island in the Unknown Regions. The idea that the kind man that sat in front of them- who’d been in part responsible for saving their lives- had spent several years of his life on the dark side was pretty hard to believe. Then again, everything they’d been told over the past few days seemed pretty unbelievable. They took it in stride as they did everything else- just one more idea to get used to along with a whole host of truths that were impossible to comprehend.

“Do you think it will get easier?” Jyn asked Cassian as they enjoyed the display Ben and Rey were putting on. 

“I’m sure it has to at some point.” Cassian said, putting his arm around her. “If former storm troopers and force users and whatever else everyone here is can learn to live together, I’m sure we can get used to a jump forward in time.”

“Good point.” Jyn said, leaning her head back into him. “Can you two do that?” She asked Jannah and Finn. “Make fire fly around and… explode?”

“Not likely.” Jannah laughed. “Those two, they explained the whole dyad thing right?”

“We caught some of it.” Cassian said, trying to remember the conversation.

“Basically their powers are bonded to each other, and there’s a lot they can do that most Force users can’t.” Finn explained. 

“That doesn’t seem very fair.” Jyn joked. 

“Trust me.” Finn said. “I’m ok with it. I try not to think about what’s fair and what’s not in the Force. It has its reasons. The more questions you ask of the Force, the more questions it gives you.”

“At one point I would have thought what you just said was insane...” Cassian said, “But after the week we’ve had, that makes perfect sense.”

Jyn snuggled into Cassian as the friend’s laughter and conversation filled the space. Rey felt her heart melting as she noticed the two of them together. 

_You’re staring at them again honey. ___Ben teased her through their bond. _They’re going to stop coming to hang out with us if you keep doing that. ___

Rey’s gaze snapped back up at the ball of fire he had waiting for her. She sent the needed energy up into it, making it burst into a shimmering cloud of green. _I can’t help it. ___She replied, a little embarrassed at having been caught. _Don’t they remind you of us when we first got to Tatooine? ___

_Yeah, they do… Especially the part about not getting up till noon. ___

Rey sighed as she remembered the bliss of their first days together. _We should do that again sometime- stay in bed all day. You know, for old times sake. ___

_That might be a little tough with two toddlers wanting breakfast. ___

_Right… ___Rey remembered how sneaky and creative they’d had to be about their sex life since the girls had arrived. _You know… one of these days, when we head down to the cave, we could make a stop at the homestead for old times sake. Take an afternoon off from all our adventures? ___

A smile lit up Ben’s face as he brought another ball of fire out of the pit and up into the sky. _I thought you’d never ask. ___

Rey’s growing mischievous side was new to Ben, and something he loved getting used to. The old Rey would never have allowed herself to be distracted when they were supposed to be working on other things, but the new Rey had no problem knowing when they could use a break together.

Working around the clock with your spouse had it’s pros and it’s cons, the cons being that things could get tense if they didn’t make sure keep things fun. As Rey had got to know her dark side better and allowed herself the freedom of following her instincts, finding fun had become second nature to her. It was a side of his wife Ben couldn’t get enough of. 

Suddenly a thought struck Jyn. “So wait… how old do we say we are now? Are we the age we were on Scariff or are we in our… what… 50s? 60s?”

“If you ask me age is just a number.” Jannah replied. 

Poe laughed a little louder than he should. He knew better than to actually say anything. 

“Something you’d like to add, Mr. Dameron?” Jannah said, side eyeing him.

“Well, you know, it’s just funny you would say that.” He replied, unable to hold back. 

“And why would that be?” Jannah asked, fully turning to him. 

Poe flashed her a shit eating grin. “You know I know better than that.”

“Smart man.” Jannah said turning back to Jyn and Cassian. “He’s giving me a hard time about fact that me and Beaumont have a bit of an age difference.” Beaumont sat next to her smiling from ear to ear. Jannah’s snark was everything he loved about her. 

“It’s hardly more than Ben and I.” Rey spoke up.

“It's a tiny bit more.” Jannah smiled turning to Jyn. “It’s important to be with someone who understands the way of life you came from. If you ever get back to civilization, you’ll see what I mean. Young people, people my age who’ve never lived through war, they’re so…” she had a hard time finding the right word. 

“They haven’t quite grown up yet… not as much as people like us have.” Rose added.

“Exactly.” Jannah agreed. “Growing up in the middle of a war makes you figure out exactly who you are. You grow up a lot quicker than those that don’t. When I got to the capital being around people my age felt like being around children. The only people I could stand being around were people who’d come from the Resistance.”

Zorii and Rose nodded in agreement, having experienced the culture shock of life in a city that hadn’t known the horrors of war. 

“I can imagine” Jyn said, remembering how quickly she’d grown up after being ripped way from the comfort of her family. 

“Meeting Beaumont was like a breath of fresh air.” Jannah went on, taking her partners hand. “He’d seen enough of the galaxy to know what truly mattered in life, and he was the biggest nerd I’d ever met so he had that going for him.”

Beaumont laughed. “That’s more than fair.”

“Hey speaking of the capital…” Zorii spoke up. “I think we have a reason to plan a trip back sweetheart.” she said turning to Poe.

“That’s right… A new hut to build will mean another supply run.” He looked back at Jyn and Cassian. “Lucky for you two we’ve got building these things down to a science. We should have a hut put up in about a month after we get back.” 

“A hut?” Jyn asked “Like the one’s you guys live in?” She hadn’t expected that level of generosity from people they’d just met a week ago.

“You two helped save the galaxy in a very big way.” Poe said, a seriousness coming into his tone. “The least we can do is give you a place to stay for a while. Unless… there’s another planet you’d rather head to of course.”

Jyn and Cassian looked at each other. They hadn’t even thought of where they’d end up next. Most everyone they’d known was gone and the cause they’d fought for had been accomplished. The idea of jumping back into society right away was more than a little overwhelming.

“I think we’re good here for now.” Jyn said with a smile. “That is, if you’ll have us, if we can be helpful in any way. We don’t want to be a burden.”

“We’re happy to have you.” Rey assured her. “It’s like we said, we can always use an extra hand or two. We’ve still got quite a bit of work ahead. Rebuilding an order while surviving on a remote island is no small feat. We’ll take all the help we can get.”

“We’re happy to help however we can.” Cassian said. The more he thought about it, the more he realized the group they’d found themselves with wasn’t all that different from the Rebellion. Though the means were different, their principles were the same- They’d dedicated their lives to restoring peace to the galaxy. He couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be in this future time than where fate had put them. 

“That’s settled then.” Zorii said. “Poe and I will pack up and head back to the capital asap.” She winked at Rey, reminding her this was about more than just a supply run. She couldn’t wait to see what her friend brought back for her. 

“While we’re at it…” Poe went on, “Jannah, Finn, what do you two think about coming along? I think the senate might benefit from a demonstration of those saber skills you’ve been working on. I wouldn’t hurt our cause to let them see all you’ve been up to, to see how the students have been progressing.”

“I’m in!” Jannah said. 

“Definitely!” Finn agreed. 

“Owan’s first trip to a big city!” Rose said excitedly. “I can’t wait!”

“While we’re there, we can look at whatever kind of data storage and scanning equipment we want to bring back for the library.” Beaumont said thinking ahead. “It would probably be best to pick that out in person anyway.”

“Good point… Anyone else want to come?” Poe asked out of courtesy looking around. 

“That’s gonna be a no for us.” Ben joked. “Unless you want to go honey.”

“Leave you with the twins alone?” Rey asked in disbelief. “I’d never do that to you.”

“I thought you might want to take them.” 

Rey stared at him dumbfounded. “Twin toddlers in a big city? I think I’d rather head to Exegol.”

Ben smiled. “Fair point.”

Jyn and Cassian looked at each other, hardly able to consider it. “I think we’ll stay here.” Jyn said. “Getting used to the idea of the galaxy several decades ahead is enough for now. I don’t think I’m ready to actually see it just yet.”

“Agreed.” Cassian said, glad they were on the same page. 

"How would we be of the most service, Master Dameron?" 3PO asked.

"The droids..." Poe said, considering the logistics. "3PO you and R2 can stay here. We'll take BB and D-O. They're easier to travel with."

"N-no, city, s-scary." D-O protested, preferring life on Ahch To.

"Fine. Stay behind. BB can come alone." Poe replied.

"No, friend!" D-O protested again, not wanting to be separated from his buddy.

BB-8 beeped in agreement, not wanting to leave his friend behind.

"Fine!" Poe gave in. "You two stay here, we'll take R2 and 3PO. Gods, having droids is like having children sometimes."

"Trust me Poe, it's soooo much worse." Rey said smiling.

"So much to look forward to." Poe sighed.

“Graaagh!” Chewy spoke up.

“Don’t worry Chewy, I knew you were coming.” Poe said. “That settles it then. The dyad and the time travelers can hang here with the roll out twins, and the rest of us normal people can head back to civilization. No offense of course.”

“None taken.” Cassian laughed.

“Who are you calling normal?!” Jannah asked, her snark returning to her tone. “I seem to remember you being just as much a part of the whole Force reincarnation thing as the rest of us.”

“Force reincarnation thing?!” Jyn asked.

Poe sighed heavily as he looked up at the sky. “We’ll get to that another time. You two have had enough to deal with for one week.”

Ben and Rey’s fire show came to an end as they sensed a familiar presence further back in the darker part of the plaza. A familiar presence... along with a presence they hadn’t sensed before. 

_Do you want to go see who she brought to see us this evening? ___Rey asked.

 _Yeah… I’ll be right back. ___Ben walked over to look back into the plaza for a moment. There was nothing there but darkness and empty space. Whoever she'd brought, they weren’t able to reveal themselves in the Force.

“Everything alright?” Jyn asked looking up at him.

“Yeah…” Ben replied. “I thought I sensed something but… it was nothing.” 

As Ben turned to rejoin the group he heard his mother’s voice. “Sweetheart, tell your new friends Bail says hello.” Ben could feel his mother's mischievous spirit with what she said next. “Call Jyn "Lianna". She’ll know it’s him.” 

Ben looked back at the empty plaza again. 

“What is it?” Cassian asked, looking back to see what had caught his attention.

“My guess would be Force stuff.” Poe said. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

Ben turned back to sit down with his friends. Something told him he could share this with them. They’d seen enough over the past week to understand there were more than a few mysteries to the ways of the Force.

“You know how we explained we travel through time by entering the world between the living and the dead?”

“Here we go.” Poe said.

“Yes.” Jyn said, unsure where he was going with that. It was an idea they were familiar with, but one they were still very much getting used to. 

“So there’s three worlds.” Ben explained. “The world of the living, the world of the dead, and the space between. Those who’ve passed have a lot more freedom to roam between the three worlds. They can move between all three worlds as freely as we can walk around this island.”

“Ok…” Cassian said. “So you’re saying there are some ghosts hanging out with us tonight or-“

“Actually, yes.” Ben paused as he remembered what his mother had told him to say. “Bail wanted me to tell you two- he said to tell _Lianna ___hi…” He paused as more words came to him. “…and to enjoy the future you both built on hope.”

Cassian and Jyn stared at him blankly for a moment, unsure how he could have possibly known Jyn’s pseudonym from her life on the run. The realization hit them that he must have heard it from someone they’d once known. 

They looked at each other for a moment, realizing sometimes words weren’t needed. Together they got comfortable again, settling in to watch the fire die down. 

Ben looked back behind them one last time. He thought he noticed a glimmer in the night’s sky as he felt whatever presences had been there disappear.

He got up to go sit by Rey again, stealing a glance back at his friends as he did so. The smiles that had come over them told him everything. They’d heard exactly what they’d needed to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon note- Just want to take a moment and point out why Bail Organa is one of the most important characters in Star Wars.  
> He's personally responsible for the following:
> 
> 1.) Saving Yoda and Obi Wan from certain death during order 66.  
> 2.) Padme having a safe place to give birth to the Skywalker twins.  
> 3.) Getting the Skywalker twins to safety and hiding their identities.  
> 4.) Raising Leia into the badass princess she was.
> 
> Without Bail, there's be no Luke, Leia, or Ben. Without them, Palpatine would have reigned supreme forever and Rey would have likely ended up on the dark side as his heir.
> 
> Bail is the real MVP of Star Wars. 🙌


	77. A Brighter Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the crew heads to the capital, Ben and Rey spend some time with Jyn and Cassian planing out their new home. Finn and Jannah's demonstration for the senate ends up causing a reaction none of them anticipated...

Ben, Rey, Jyn and Cassian waved from the plaza as the freighter took off, taking their friends back to civilization. As excited as the crew had been to leave, those that stayed were just as pleased to remain behind. There was plenty of work to be done to plan for a new hut, and they couldn’t wait to get started.

Before leaving, Jannah had helped Rey had finish a pair of back pack carriers for her and Ben to carry the twins around the island. Though they were toddling around on their own, they weren’t yet big enough to get around the island’s rugged terrain. They’d outgrown the wraps and slings they’d used as babies, and Rey and Ben had found themselves in need of something sturdier to get them around. 

Ben had suggesting levitating the girls as he’d done to help Rey when she’d been heavily pregnant, but Rey had been quick to shoot that idea down. The girl’s Force abilities were blossoming daily and the last thing she wanted them getting ideas about was the ability to levitate each other. 

Thankfully, Jannah and Rey’s combined skills of constructing survival gear from whatever lay around proved useful when it came to putting together baby gear. 

“They’re waving with us!” Jyn said, noticing the twins waving over their parent’s shoulders.

“Good job girls!” Rey cheered on her daughters. “Can you two say bye bye? Bye Bye Finn! Bye Bye Rose! Bye Bye Poe! Bye Bye Zorii!”

“Bayee bayee bayee bayee!” Hana chimed in, waving her chubby hand frantically.

“Wooooose!” Ilaria added, waving both hands. 

“Good job sweetie!” Ben said turning to look at Ilaria. “Rose will be happy to hear she was missed.”

“Ardito!” Hana exclaimed, pointing towards the freighter as it disappeared.

“Puyo!” Ilaria added, pointing along with her sister.

“That’s right!” Rey said. “R2-D2 and C-3PO were on that ship!”

“How do you know what they’re saying?” Cassian asked as the four turned to head back up the hill behind the village.

“You just… kind of know somehow.” Rey smiled. “There’s this weird connection parents have with their kids. The moment they start making sounds you start to understand what they’re trying to say. When they start trying to form words, it’s even clearer.”

Jyn looked up at Ilaria bobbing in the back pack in front of her on Rey’s back. The little toddler’s dark curls flew around in the wind as she looked back at her new friend. A chubby little hand reached out and waved.

“Hi sweetie!” Jyn waved back at her. “You two have made some adorable children.”

“Thanks!” Ben laughed. “Do you two think you’ll ever want kids?” He asked without thinking. 

An awkward silence stretched out for a moment. “I think we’ll just work on getting a place to stay for now.” Jyn answered. They were still settling into the early bliss of being together, and weren’t anywhere near talking about things like kids and futures just yet. 

“Right…” Ben said trying to think of what to say. “First things first....” Suddenly he knew just what to say to cut the tension. He turned back to look at Cassian. “If you two ever do get to that point, don’t do what I did and try killing your wife’s friends when they show up to congratulate her. That never goes over well.”

Jyn looked back at Cassian wide eyed as she tried stifling a laugh. 

“That’s a story we’re going to need to hear.” Cassian said. 

“That happened back on Tatooine.” Rey added. “I’d be happy to tell you both all about it when we get around the ridge.” 

They soon found themselves on the back of the ridge behind the village. There was a strip of relatively flat land the stretched back around the island that hadn’t been used for farming yet. It didn’t get as much sun as the front of the island and wasn’t as ideal for growing, but it was perfect for building a hut as they’d filled up the flat land that lay immediately behind the village. 

Rey looked around surveying the space as Ben led a construction droid in taking laser measurements. Their measurements confirmed it was just wide enough front to back to build a hut with some space in front to walk around. 

“First things first, we’ll add a fence along the edge here so no one tumbles to their death if they slip in a rainstorm.” Rey said. 

“We’d appreciate that.” Cassian laughed. The rugged terrain of the island made for beautiful views, but it also came with its dangers. 

“The nice part of being back here,” Rey went on, “You two will have this view of the ocean all to your selves, but still be right next to the village. Privacy and convenience.” 

“A view all our own….” Jyn marveled. “I’ve never had a view of any kind to speak of, let alone one all to myself.”

“Well, you will have to share it with me.” Cassian smiled.

“I’m sure we can manage that.” She replied. 

Once measurements had been taken and they’d confirmed the spot they’d build, the four of them sat in the grass to take in the view. The twin suns were high enough in the sky to warm their skin as the ocean breeze blew their hair back.

“I don’t think I’ll have any problem getting used to this.” Jyn remarked. “Is the weather here ever bad?”

“Those rainstorms I mentioned, they can go on for a week or more at a time if we’re unlucky.” Rey answered.

“You lived on Tatooine and you’re complaining about rain?” Cassian asked. 

Rey smiled as she realized the irony. She wasn’t sure when it happened, but at some point she’d become used to having too much water around. “Trust me.” She said. “I grew up on Jakuu. I’m very aware of how lucky we are.”

“Speaking of Tatooine, wasn’t there some story you were going to tell us?” Jyn asked. 

“Right…” Rey said grinning at Ben. “Do you want to tell that one sweetheart or should I?”

“I think you’d enjoy telling it a lot more than I would.” He replied. 

A few minutes later, Ben couldn’t help but join in the laughter over Rey’s retelling of how they’d been found by Poe and Finn. Jyn and Cassian were eating up every word. They couldn’t believe how the close friends they’d come to know had met in such an explosive way. 

Rey caught her breath as she came down from laughter, having just recalled Finn’s bold accusations of how long they’d been together by pointing out her belly. 

“It gets better” She went on “So Ben still has his saber right in Poe’s face. He looks right at him and says, without hesitation-” She lowered her voice to mimic his. “ _We should kill them and leave them in the desert, make it look like an accident. ___”

Cassian stared at Ben in disbelief.

“You really said that?” Jyn asked.

“Father's-to-be can get... a little over protective. I wasn’t really thinking clearly.” Ben said, his mouth tightening as he tried not to laugh.

Jyn and Cassian couldn’t help but laugh again. “Over protective, indeed.” Jyn remarked.

“That would have been bad enough on its own,” Rey explained. “But what Ben didn’t know is those two had nearly died in a crash in the desert on Jakuu when they escaped the First Order. Of course Finn lost it, throwing his arms up like “ _Make it look like an accident?! Oh the irony! ___”. I had no choice but to use the Force to freeze them and get Ben to cool down.”

“That is some story.” Cassian said.

“So how’d you get them to calm down and get along?” Jyn asked.

“Honestly… I’m not really sure.” Rey tried remembering how it had gone. “At some point I got them all sitting at the dinner table together. Ben explained everything he’d been through that brought him to that point which helped a lot. Honestly I think Poe realizing our eyes turned green and his laughing at our expense was what really cut the tension.” 

Their friends looked confused for a moment. “Eyes turned green?” Jyn asked. “How do you mean?”

Rey realized she was about to have to retell a story she hadn’t told in a long time. 

“Sweetheart.” She said looking at Ben, leaning her head to the side. “I think it’s your turn to tell part of our story.”

Ben stared at her for a second then took a deep breath. “Well…” He started. “I’d always had dark brown eyes and Rey’s were more amber… before we got together.”

Their friends looked at them skeptically, unsure what they were about to hear. 

“It turns out…” He went on “When a dyad consummates their bond, their eyes turn green. It was one of the first things Poe noticed after I told them what had happened to me- that Rey’s eyes were a different color from the last time they’d seen her, and that mine matched.”

“So…. The first time you were together… your eyes turned green like they are now?” Jyn asked.

“Yes.” Rey confirmed. “Not to get to into details but we were actually looking into each others eyes when it happened. As you can imagine it came as a bit shock.”

Jyn and Cassian looked at each other again then burst out laughing.

“I have to say..” Jyn said trying to catch her breath. “Of all the wild stories you’ve told us this week this one is by far the best.”

“Agreed.” Cassian added. 

“Oh there’s plenty more where that came from...” Ben sighed with a smile as he looked out over the ocean.

“Let’s save some stories for later.” Rey laughed, rolling her eyes. “How about you two? Tell us more about yourselves.”

“What else would you like to know?” Jyn asked.

“I feel like all we’ve heard so far is what you did during your time in the Rebellion.” Rey said. 

“How about... what planets are you both from originally?” Ben asked. 

“I was born on Vallt.” Jyn answered. “But I don’t remember much about it. My family left when I was a baby. We spent my first few years on Coruscant while my father, well, he worked for the Empire- before he realized what they were up to.”

“No need to explain.” Ben reassured her. “We’ve all made choices that were harder to examine later.”

“Right...” Jyn smiled. “Anyway as soon as he realized what they were up to building the Death Star, we went into hiding on Lah’mu where we had a farm. Lah’mu was what I’d call home. I spent more time there than anywhere else.”

“How long were you there?” Rey asked

“Four years.” She answered. “I was eight when the Empire found us. You’ve heard that part of the story. Eventually, the Rebellion found me and, well you know the rest.”

“So what’s you story?” Rey asked Cassian. 

“I know I was born on Fest. My mother died soon after and my father died when I was six protesting the Clone Wars. My first memory on my own I was six years old in an outdoor holding cell. We’d pass the time throwing rocks and bottles at clone troopers and walkers that came by. Eventually a group of us escaped. Several years later I took up the fight when I got recruited to the Alliance to Restore the Republic, what became the Rebellion. I worked my way up from there.”

Rey thought for a moment on all they’d just heard. “Getting pulled into wars your parents fought before you were old enough to know what was going on… That sounds very familiar.” She paused, looked out over the ocean. “Things weren’t so different in your time than when we grew up.”

“That they weren’t.” Cassian agreed.

Jyn looked over at the twins who were playing together between Ben and Rey. 

“By the looks of it, these little one’s will have a much better time growing up than any of us did.” Her eyes met Rey’s as their mother’s gaze snapped up to her.

“We certainly hope so...” Rey said looking back at her daughters. Suddenly she remembered to check the time. “Speaking of better futures… I’ll need to get back down to our hut in a bit to work on my speech for the Senate. Poe wants me to record a holomessage to deliver before Jannah and Finn’s sparring demonstration. Poe’s said he’ll put up a live stream for us so we can watch how it all goes, if the signal holds up that is.”

“You think the galaxy is ready to hear all we have to say?” Ben asked.

“They’d better be.” Rey replied. 

*****

Later that week the four friends sat on the couch in Poe’s hut waiting for the live stream to begin. As they waited, Rey was grateful she’d been able to pre-record her speech rather than delivering it live. She’d been nervous enough just recording it alone. If she’d had to deliver the message knowing thousands were listening, she feared she’d have never been able to get through it. 

Rey tried to imagine what it would be like being there in the Senate chamber- an enormous space filled with holograms of delegates from all over the galaxy, several hundreds present in person as well. After the Fall of the Empire, the senate had never fully reassembled physically like they once had on Coruscant. Trust had never been rebuilt to the point where people were ready to assemble like that in one place. She hoped the Republic would become strong enough within their lifetime to see such days again. She knew as well as anyone that restoring an order of Force users to keep the peace would be a key part of that. 

“Looks like something’s coming in.” Ben said, making sure the holo-projector was ready to stream. 

A few moments later a hologram of the senate floor filled the space before them, the first several rows of representatives visible in front of where Poe was seated with the camera. Hana and Ilaria’s gaze snapped up to the image that had appeared above their heads as they played on the floor. Rey’s heart pounded in her chest as she waited for something to happen. 

“The show’s about to begin.” They heard Poe say out of frame. 

The newly elected chancellor came up to announce the session’s proceedings. He was a tall man with a thundering voice that didn’t need much help filling the space.

“That’s Val Luceno.” They heard Poe say. “You guys would love him. We had dinner with his family last night. Wonderful people, some of our biggest supporters.” 

They listened as Chancellor Luceno came to the exciting part.

“I’m pleased to announce that today we are joined by two students of a newly created order of Force users. We're all familiar with the story of Rey Solo, a student of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa-Solo. Just as the Emperor attempted to return, Rey defeated him with the help of her late husband Ben Solo. Ben had just recently broken free of the Emperor’s control and returned to the light, making what they achieved together even more incredible. Ben lost his life in the battle but Rey has bravely carried on their mission in his memory. The Solo’s heroism and sacrifices during the war against the First Order is a large part of why we’re able to freely assemble here today.”

Rey took Ben’s hand as the chancellor’s words washed over them. Hearing this version of their story told in such a public way almost didn’t feel real. Poe’s work in the capital had accomplished everything they’d hoped for. They hoped the message they’d prepared to deliver would be just as well received. 

The chancellor’s address went on. “In a moment we’ll begin this session with a message from Rey who wasn’t able to be here today. She’s prepared a message to share all that she’s discovered over the past couple years about rebuilding an order of Force users to protect the Galaxy. After her address, we’ll be given a demonstration by her padawans Jannah Calrissian and General Finn Tico. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming to the floor Rey Solo.” Applause began as he motioned to his left where a hologram would soon appear. 

“Gods I don’t know if I can watch.” Rey said anxiously.

“It’s gonna be great.” Ben reassured her, squeezing her hand.

Rey felt her anxiety building as she waited for her speech to begin. In her nervousness she scooted closer to Ben, holding on to him for support. Her heart raced as the hologram appeared and she heard herself begin to speak. 

_Honored members of the Senate, today I am humbled to share with you my hope for building something nobody has seen in generations- an order of Force users powerful enough to protect the galaxy. We’ve all dreamed of seeing a day when the Republic regains the strength it had many decades ago. Part of regaining that strength is building an order of Force users to protect the innocent and maintain peace. ___

_The struggles that have plagued the galaxy over the past several decades cannot be overstated. The peace the Jedi built over hundreds of years was destroyed in single a day when Order 66 was issued. Thankfully, two masters survived to pass on their legacy- a legacy which Luke and Leia passed on to me. ___

_Master Luke dreamed of a day when he’d return the Jedi to their former glory, but the Force had other plans. In his studies of the Force, Luke sadly made the mistake of underestimating the Force’s desire to balance itself, as his Jedi forbearers had before him. By taking advantage of Luke’s unwillingness to understand to the ways of the Dark side, the Emperor was able to steal his strongest student away from him and destroy his order in a single night. ___

_The tragedy of what Ben suffered and the sacrifice of his life to defeat his evil master have guided my studies of the Force. If I am to rebuild an order of Force users, it will be an order than can ensure no one ever suffers the way Ben did at the hands of the Emperor. ___

_The greatest truth the Force has shown me has been through the bond I shared with Ben. Though we met on opposite sides of a war and though we studied different sides of the Force at the time, Ben and I discovered quickly that we shared a bond through the Force. We were able to communicate over vast distances at any moment. Through our bond Ben was able to gain the strength he needed to break free of the Emperor who’d controlled him his entire life. ___

_I believe the Force created our bond for a reason- to show us both a truth the galaxy hasn’t understood in a very long time. ___

_That truth is that lasting peace comes from balancing the Force, not trying to control it one way or another. After Order 66, we no longer have the luxury of believing an order that only understands the light can maintain peace. Orders of Force users that only study half of the Force must remain a thing of the past if the galaxy is to remain truly free from the suffering of war. ___

_Throughout history we’ve seen a pattern- If the Jedi become too powerful, the Force allows darkness to return and overtake them. If the Sith become too powerful, the Force allows the light to return and overtake them. The result of the Jedi and Sith existing has been an endless cycle of war that renews itself every time the Force seeks to achieve balance. ___

_In order to end this cycle of war, it is my goal to build an order of Force users that understand both sides of the Force- an order to truly balance it. Not an order of light, not an order of dark, but an order of grey. ___

_During my time on Ahch To I’ve studied texts master Luke discovered from an ancient time when Force users learned about the Dark and Light together. They lived in a time of peace, a time of balance unlike any of us has ever known. It is my belief that by following their ancient teachings, we can rebuild an order of Force users that will bring the kind of lasting peace we all want for future generations. ___

_Because of that knowledge, I’ve chosen to name this order in Luke’s honor. It will be known as the Order of Skywalker. Someday, I hope children will grow up knowing that whenever injustice arises, Skywalkers will be there to protect the innocent and restore the balance that keeps us all free. ___

_Honored members of the senate, it is with great pride that I introduce to you the first students of this order. Please join me in welcoming Finn Tico and Jannah Calrissian, who will now demonstrate some of the skills they have learned as my students. ___

A reserved applause was heard throughout the senate chamber. In the hologram they could see delegates leaning over and talking with each other as they sat in their seats. It was as much as Rey had expected. The idea of an order of Force users studying both the dark and light was a revolutionary one. She knew it would take people time to get used to the idea. 

She hoped Finn and Jannah’s demonstration would be enough to begin opening their minds to all she’d just proposed. 

Finn and Jannah took the stage and waved at the crowd as the applause amped up for a moment then began to die down. People appeared to be excited for whatever they were about to see… that much was a good sign. 

“Finn!” Hana cheered, pointing at the display.

“Nahnah!” Ilaria added, excited to see their friends again.

“That’s right girls, Finn and Jannah- looks like they’ve got some new outfits!” Rey smiled at the sleek grey active wear they’d picked out during their stay in the capital. It wasn’t the robes she’d wished they could be wearing; there hadn’t been enough time to finish those before the trip. Thankfully, what they had gave them just enough of a polished look to appear like they belonged to something important. 

“Alright you two, let’s do this.” They heard Poe utter under his breath.

Rey and Ben’s hearts filled with pride as their students ignited their sabers and squared off to begin. A timer on stage beeped to let them know to start. Finn crouched as Jannah skipped towards him to engage. Seconds later their blue blades clashed and spun as they moved through a series of blows. 

Gasps and exclamations could be heard throughout the crowd as the delegates took in a sight none of them had ever seen- a pair of force users dueling with the legendary weapons they’d only ever heard about in stories. 

“I think they’re into it.” Poe whispered to the camera.

As the demonstration went forward, Ben and Rey could tell their students were benefitting from the sudden boost of energy in the room. With each second that passed, their moves became more powerful and more intricate as they moved around the stage. Their footwork became quicker, their actions became more thought out. As their performance intensified, so did the wonder of the crowd. 

“Oh wow, people are standing up.” Poe said, noticing the first few rows rising to their feet. Those in the rows behind them followed as delegates did all they could to get a better view of what was taking place on stage.

Finn spun around with his saber and dropped to a knee to deliver a low swoop, which Jannah powerfully leaped to avoid.

“Whew!” One delegate cheered.

Jannah’s smile beamed as she deflected another series of blows. The encouragement had her soon advancing; more than holding her own with all Finn was able to deliver.

More delegates began to cheer as the demonstration intensified. Finn and Jannah spun and swerved around each other, exchanging blows like a choreographed dance. 

The view of the hologram shook as Poe had to lift the camera to maintain view of the stage. By this point everyone in the room was on their feet.

“Have you seen them take it to this level before?” Ben asked.

“Can’t say I have.” Rey replied. 

“Maybe we should send them to the capital more often.” 

“That might not be a bad idea…” Rey let go of Ben and leaned forward in her seat as she marveled at how the energy in the room continued pushing them to new heights. Both masters were on the edge of their seat with what their students did next. 

Jannah attempted a low spinning blow similar to the one Finn had earlier. Finn easily back flipped away to avoid it.

Applause exploded from the delegates as he landed on his feet, Jannah sprinting forward at him with renewed enthusiasm. 

“Definitely not a bad idea.” Rey said as a smile spread across her face. 

The demonstration went on as the crowd of delegates cheered louder and louder with each passing move. 

At one point Jannah attempted a maneuver that caught her feet up and had her stumble backwards, landing on her back. The crowd went silent and several delegates gasped. Finn paused with his saber lifted, checking that she was ok. She took full advantage of the pause, rolling forward under him and springing up to attack from the behind. Finn spun to meet her, suddenly on the defense. The crowd burst with excitement at the quick rebound.

“Bet he won’t make that mistake again.” Ben laughed. 

“Do you think she meant to fall?” Rey asked, realizing it may have been planned.

“Knowing her, it wouldn’t surprise me.” Ben said smiling.

Shouts of joy and cheers of encouragement continued building as the demonstration went on. Soon everyone was clapping and cheering as loud as they could. The room roared around them as they threw all they had into their demonstration, slashing and spinning and stabbing and flying around the space, blades clashing with intensified energy all the while. 

After several minutes Finn raised his hand to pause, nodding towards the timer. It had gone off to signal the end of their round some time ago, but the crowd’s cheers had drowned it out. 

Both students smiled from ear to ear as they lowered their sabers to extinguish them. The room around them exploded with energy as they took hands to bow. 

“Wow, you guys… I really wish you could be here to see this…” Poe said as he panned the camera over the room. “People are losing their minds… crying, cheering, hugging each other, even the holograms behind us are losing it...” He panned the camera to the back to see all the holograms of delegates in attendance. A sea of holograms within a hologram appeared like blue fuzzy wiggly forms to Ben and Rey, but the effect was clear. Even those not physically in attendance were overcome with enthusiasm, cheering on what they’d just seen. 

Poe turned the camera back to Finn and Jannah one last time as they waved at the crowd who were still on their feet, cheering with everything they had. 

“I think the demonstration worked… Man, talk about inspiring hope. ” He said, a hint of emotion in his voice. 

Everything the group of friends had worked for over the past couple years came together in that moment. They’d given the galaxy their symbols of hope again, and the awe inspiring effect of that could be seen in the reaction taking place right before their eyes. The galaxy had been without their mythical heroes for longer than anyone could remember. Having them back was everything they needed to believe a brighter future was possible. 

The celebration continued, the roar of the crowd filling the space. The view began to move around as people around Poe pulled his attention to congratulate him, hug him, and above all thank him for bringing such an extraordinary demonstration to the senate. Finally Poe pulled away for a moment to turn the camera back to himself.

“I think it’s safe to say you’ve got all the support you need for your new order. I better get back to shaking hands. We’ll see you guys back on Ahch To!” With that the signal cut out.

Ben and Rey’s gaze snapped to each other, both wide eyed in amazement at what their students had just accomplished. 

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” The both shouted as they jumped to their feet. Rey jumped onto Ben, arms wrapped around his shoulders and legs around his waist. He caught her and spun them around, both cheering with the euporia of what they’d just witnessed. 

“Gods that was AMAZING!” Ben said finally bringing their spin to a stop. “Oh honey I’m so proud of you!” He said as he leaned in for a kiss.

“aaaahh! I can’t believe it! That was incredible!” Rey cheered as she pulled Ben’s face to hers for another enthusiastic kiss. “They did it! They really did it! Gods I’m so proud of them… of all of us! Honey we did it! It’s finally happening!”

“Dadadadadada!” Hana shrieked, throwing her hands up as she toddled over to join the excitement. 

“Mamamama!” Ilaria yelled, not far behind. 

Ben set Rey down so they could both swoop their girls up to join them. 

“They did it girls! Finn and Jannah did it!” Rey said excitedly as the family embraced in a group hug.

“Yaaaayyy Finn and Jannah!” Ben cheered.

Suddenly they remembered they weren’t alone. Rey looked over at her friends to see they were on their feet too. Cassian smiled behind Jyn, his arm around her as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

“Sorry,” she said with a laugh as she sniffled. “It’s just, well this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

“That was amazing you guys. Really. Congratulations.” Cassian said smiling. “Seeing that… I’m still not totally convinced this isn’t the afterlife.”

“How so?”” Jyn turned to ask, wiping a few more more tears from her cheeks.

“Well… one day we’re in the middle of a war thinking we’re about to die. Next we’re on some beautiful island, the galaxy is at peace, Force users have returned… it’s almost too good to be true .”

“Well, get used to it!” Rey said. They set both girls down as they pulled their friends over to join them. “From the looks of that crowd, things are only going to get better from here on out!”

“Yeeesssss!” Ben cheered again as he wrapped all three of them in a group hug that nearly squeezed the breath out of them. 

“Honey... that’s… a bit much.” Rey protested.

“Sorry” He said quickly letting go. “It’s just- oh GODS this is the GREATEST day of my life!” He exclaimed, throwing his fists up in triumph.

“Wait, when did _you ___get so into group hugs?” Rey teased as she looked up at him.

“Well, you know, I learned from the best.” He grinned. 

Rey beamed as she let the joy of the moment wash over her. Ben’s overly enthusiastic side was something she very much looked forward to getting used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was looking through some Reylo fan art last night and found this image. Seeing it felt like them watching the senate proceedings. 
> 
> Bless these two. They've worked so hard to get to this point. ❤❤  
> 
> 
>   
> I’d love to credit this image but there wasn't an artist listed with it and I can't find the source. If anyone can let me know who made it so I can credit them I'd be forever grateful!  
> 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! So excited for our crew to see what the future holds!
> 
> Note on canon- All of Jyn and Cassian’s background stories that they shared are canon, including Cassian’s rebellious six year old self throwing rocks and bottles at Empire troops. His line in R1 about joining the fight at six years old was no exaggeration. What a little hellion. 😂


	78. Next Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what Finn and Jannah accomplished in the Senate, Ben and Rey don't think there's much more excitement they can bring back from the capital. It turns out, their students are just getting started shaking things up...

A couple days had passed since their exciting viewing of the Senate proceedings, and Ben and Rey still felt like they were on cloud nine. Their family breakfast routine was interrupted by a tap at the door from BB-8, D-O by his side as always. Ben quickly got up to let the droids in. 

“M-Morning!” D-O said cheerfully as he rolled in.

“Morning little guy.” Ben answered. “What’s up with you two this morning?”

BB-8 let out a flurry of beeps letting Rey know Finn and Jannah wanted to talk to her on the hologram up at Poe’s hut around lunch time. They had something important to ask her.

“Wonder what this could be about…” Rey said.

“Whatever it is, after all they’ve been up to I’m sure it’s good. Mind if I come with?”

Rey looked at Ben surprised. “Of course but… well, I’ll have to check and make sure they’re alone first. You’re not worried about anyone intercepting the signal and seeing you?”

“We haven't sensed any issues with that yet. If anything ever came of it, you could just say it was a projection of me. Some force bond illusion. It’s not like anyone in the galaxy actually knows how these things work.”

Rey raised her eyebrows as she looked at him, processing what he’d said. She was used to Ben taking his fair share of risks with everything, except for this particular matter. She wasn’t opposed to the idea, but wanted to be sure he was totally ok with it first.

“I guess that makes sense…” She finally said. “As long as you’re sure you’re ok with it.” She said.

“Yeah, why not? It’s just Finn and Jannah. It’s not like I’m actually going there.”

“That works for me.” Rey said smiling. 

Part of her was excited to see him taking this next step. The less they tiptoed around his existence, the closer they were to getting to a place of normalcy. It was clear their success in the senate had given Ben the boost of confidence he needed to take small steps back towards thinking about connecting with society.

They might not be fully there just yet, but throwing caution to the wind with things like hologram signals was a small step in that direction.

*****

“Hey guys!” Rey said as Finn and Jannah appeared on the hologram. “Before we get started, where are you two?” 

“We’re in the main area of the apartment we’re all staying in.” Finn said. “It’s a pretty sweet place- nice four bed room in the heart of the capital. You know Poe, he likes to go all out.”

“So it’s just you two and our people there? No chance of anyone but our friends walking in, right?”

“Yeah, it’s totally private, why?” Jannah asked. 

“Well, someone wants to join me on the holomessage today. Sweetheart, come on over.” Rey waved at Ben to come join her.

“Ben!” Finn and Jannah exclaimed, excited to see their friend.

“Hey guys!” Ben beamed. “I couldn’t miss the chance to tell you two how proud we are of you. What you two did in the Senate was incredible.”

“Thanks man!” Finn said.

“Thanks!” Jannah added. “I wish you two could see what it’s like here. The whole city has come alive since it happened. People are constantly trying to get a hold of us, checking to see how they can support us as we grow the new order. It’s amazing!”

“Oh that’s wonderful!” It was more than Rey could have hoped for. “So you two are superstars there now, I take it?”

“You could say that.” Finn laughed. “The footage from the senate keeps playing on the holonet around the clock. It’s hard to go anywhere without getting recognized.”

“The name has really caught on too.” Jannah added. “Everywhere we go people can’t wait to call us Skywalkers. You two really did pick the perfect name.”

“That’s great!” Rey’s heart was full of joy at the news. “While we have you two superstars attention, what was it you wanted to ask us?”

Finn and Jannah looked at each other. 

“It was your idea.” Finn said. “You tell them.”

“Well…” Jannah started. “It was really both of our idea. With all the support we’ve gained over the past few days, we wondered if you two would be open to the idea of another student or two?” 

Finn made sure to clarify. “We know you two have lot on your plate, traveling through time and preparing for the library, but we’d like to bring two padawans on that we can train ourselves- if you think we’re ready that is.”

Ben and Rey looked at each other. They’d known this would come eventually, but hadn’t expected it so soon. 

“Something tells me you two have an idea of who you’d like to bring on?” Ben asked. 

Jannah smiled. “That obvious huh? It’s two friends of mine- Jayelle and Forten. Rey, you’ve met them briefly though you might not remember them. They were my closest friends on Kef Bir. I’d trust both of them with my life. I’ve told Finn about this but most of our company was Force sensitive. Those two are no exception. They’ve got plenty of survival skills and technical knowledge that we can use on the island as well. It’s interesting actually; I caught them at just the right time. It turns out they’ve tired of the city life and were looking to move somewhere more remote. They’d been looking at a farm on some place called Lah’mu, but I figured I’d check and see if we couldn’t find space for them on Ahch To first.”

Lah’mu… it was a place Rey and Ben had heard of from another new friend in the past few days. They knew enough of the Force by now to know that when it presented odd coincidences, it was trying to tell them something.

Rey and Ben looked at each other, already on the same page. 

“The real question…” Rey said with a smile. “Is do you two feel like you’re ready to bring on students of your own? Two students is a lot to take on.”

They sat silently for a moment. 

“I think we’re ready.” Finn spoke up. “Don’t you?” He asked looking at Jannah. 

“I’m sure we could handle it.” She answered. “But it’s really up to you two. I haven’t asked them yet and I totally understand if you say no.”

It was the answer both masters had hoped for. 

“What you two did in the senate shows you’re more than ready to take that next step.” Ben replied. 

“Really?!” Jannah asked stunned. “We can ask them to join us?”

“Absolutely.” Rey affirmed her student proudly. “Confidence in your own abilities while still knowing to ask for guidance shows you’re more than ready to bring two more into the order.” 

“Sweet!” Finn cheered, high fiving Jannah.

“I can’t believe it!” Jannah said. “They will be so excited! Oh I can’t wait to tell them!”

“Don’t forget to clear it with Poe.” Rey reminded them. “He’s going to need to bring enough back to build two huts now.” 

“That’s right…” Ben added. “Guess Jyn and Cassian won’t get the back ridge all to themselves huh?”

“I’m sure they’ll be ok with it. I was a little worried they might feel left out back there. Now they’ll have some neighbors.”

“Good point…” Ben turned back to look at their students. “So let’s get this straight… in just a few days you two have not only won the galaxy’s support for our new order, but also recruited two new padawans to bring back to the island?”

“Yep.” Finn laughed. 

“Is there anything else you have to tell us before we go?” Rey asked, overjoyed at all they’d accomplished.

“Well…” Jannah spoke up. “There was one more person we were thinking of bringing back with us.”

Ben and Rey knew immediately who she was thinking of. 

“And who might that be?” Rey asked, sensing a peace coming over Ben as he thought about it. 

Jannah sighed. “You have to understand- it’s as much for Chewy as it is for me. He and my dad have been inseparable over the past few days, and well, dad’s not getting any younger and the two of us just reconnected and-”

As Jannah went on listing the millions of reasons to bring her father back, Rey checked in with Ben. 

_Are you up for that? ___

_Yeah actually… I am. ___

_Do you want to be the one to tell her? ___

_Absolutely. ___

“Jannah-” Ben interupted her mid sentence. 

“What?” She asked as she paused. 

“You can bring uncle Lando back, but only under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t tell him about me being here. I don’t want the surprise spoiled for him. I need to see his reaction when he realizes I’m still alive.”

Jannah’s eyes went wide as she realized what he was saying. 

“Aaaaaah!!!!” She screamed as she reached over to hug Finn in her excitement. “Oh gods! I can’t believe this is happening!”

“Believe it.” Rey said beaming. “Bring your padawan friends back. Bring Lando back. Bring whoever the hell you want back as long as they’re ready to stay here indefinitely and are very good at keeping a secret.” 

“Thank you guys! Thank you both so much!” She said, wiping tears of joy as they fell. “You have no idea how happy this is going to make him, really!”

“We can’t wait to see.” Ben said eagerly. “I guess we’ll have to figure out a place for him to stay-”

“Come on now.” Jannah cut him off. “You know exactly where he’s going to want to stay!” 

Ben thought about it for a moment. “Not the Falcon?!”

“Yes the Falcon. He never stops talking about that thing.”

“But it’s a wreck. Chewy’s hardly the best housekeeper.”

Jannah sighed. “Honestly, Ben, do you even know my dad? He’d much rather be in some rundown old freighter that reminds him of his glory days than anywhere else in the galaxy.”

Ben remembered how his godfather’s love of hanging out in the roughest places imaginable was rivaled only his father’s. “Now that you mention it… that makes a lot of sense. Falcon it is. He and Chewy can enjoy retirement there together.”

“This I can’t wait to see.” Finn grinned

“It will certainly make life on the island more interesting.” Rey added. 

“I can’t wait.” Ben said, suddenly having the biggest smile of the four of them.

*****

Ben and Rey walked back down to their hut together, still thrilled from hearing all that Finn and Jannah had accomplished during their time in the capital. Suddenly a thought struck Rey about their new students that made her stop in her tracks.

“What is it?” Ben asked.

“I just realized something...”

“What?”

“You know how all of Jannah’s friends from Kef Bir were former storm troopers like she and Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“Well… we’re about to have six members in our order. So far I’m the only person that’s not a former member of the First Order.”

Ben turned to look at her. He couldn’t help but laugh. 

“So that’s funny, is it?”

“Not funny… it’s just, a bit ironic.” A mischievous grin spread across his face. “That’s not going to be hard for you is it?”

“Hard for me how exactly?!” 

“I just wouldn’t want you to feel left out since you never got to have that experience.”

Rey smiled as she paused for a moment. “Somehow… I think I’ll be ok.”

“It’s not like you didn’t have the chance to. I did ask you to join me a couple times.”

“That you did.” Rey said, taking his hand to resume their walk.

Of all the surprises her husband had had for her over the past few days, his growing sense of humor was quickly becoming her favorite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's amazing how being accepted for who you are will make someone open up. Ben has struggled his whole life to find his place in the Force. Now that he and Rey have found it together, we get to look forward to seeing the real Ben come out more and more. 💖
> 
> I've been looking forward to writing Lando coming to the island for a while. I'm excited we're finally here!
> 
> Note on Canon- Jayelle and Forten are canon charecters that were Jannah's closest friends on Kef Bir. In the scene when the crew first meets Jannah, Forten is the rider in a green sweater immediately behind Jannah and Jayelle is the other rider that carries a bow. Jannah later hints to Finn that her fellow company members are all Force sensitive. I figured it only made sense they'd go with people they already knew they could trust as they started building their order. You can read more about their characters on page 162 of the TROS visual dictionary.
> 
> As I've been planning out future chapters (Including the ending! Woohoo!) I realized our crew may need a few more hands on deck with all that lies ahead. It looks like they've finally got all they need to tackle all the challenges the Force has put before them...


	79. Reconnecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew arrives back on the island with a couple of newcomers. Ben is reunited with part of his past that he's missed for a very long time.

Much to Rey’s surprise, not one but _two ___freighters appeared in the sky above Ahch To the morning their friends made their return.

“Two?!” She said alarmed, “I can’t wait to see where they think they’re going to land the second one.”

Both ships did a few circles around the island, communicating with each other about where they would each end up. The first eventually touched down on the landing pad where it normally stayed. The second made a few more laps around, and finally disappeared somewhere to the south of the island.

“The sea cows are going to love that.” Rey sighed. 

“I’m a little bummed we missed seeing that landing.” Cassian laughed.

“Hope they didn’t scare all the sea cows off. I was getting used to having fresh milk around.” Jyn said, a little worried.

“We might have to go without for a week or two....” Rey realized her girls would be the most disappointed of all about that fact. 

A few minutes later their friends made their way up the hill towards them, all looking refreshed and rejuvenated from their stay in the capital. Zorii looked particularly radiant in a new maternity tunic- a grey and green turtle neck top, which tied above her bump with a gold trimmed chord. 

Two faces Rey remembered meeting on Kef Bir followed at the back of the group- their new padawans Jayelle and Forten. Jayelle wore her long, dark hair in a braid that lay over her shoulder. Her large dark eyes reminded her a bit of Jyn. Forten had lighter hair and blue eyes. He wore his hair longer like Ben, but also had a beard and mustache like Beaumont. 

The closer the group got to them, the more Rey could sense how strong their new padawans were in the Force. Jannah had been right to bring them along. They’d make a wonderful addition to their growing order. 

“I think that bump is a bit bigger since the last time we saw you.” Rey said to Zorii as they met on the hill. 

“It certainly feels bigger every day!” Zorii said, lowering her voice to a whisper as she leaned in to hug her friend. “I picked you up some surprises as promised. I’ll bring them over later once everyone’s settled.”

“Can’t wait.” Rey whispered back, squeezing her friend tightly as they hugged. 

“WEY!” Owan shouted from atop Finn’s shoulders.

“Hey buddy!” Rey said as she reached up and took his little hand. “How do you like your dad and auntie Jannah being super stars?!” 

“I’m not sure he noticed much difference.” Finn laughed. 

“This is Jayelle and Forten.” Jannah said, excited to introduce her friends. “You three met briefly on Kef Bir but might not remember each other.”

“We remember Rey.” Jayelle said with a warm smile. “Although you did seem a bit distracted at the time, we wont hold it against you if you don’t remember us.”

Rey laughed. “You picked up on that?”

“Taking a skimmer out in a squall was a good sign you were in a rush to get somewhere.” Forten joked. 

Rey wasn’t surprised to hear their accents matched Jannah’s. They’d been raised together and would have learned to speak from the same people. It was a reminder of just how much the wars of the galaxy had impacted all of their lives. 

“I did do that didn’t I…” Rey said, a little embarrassed. “Not my proudest moment. For what it’s worth I do remember you two. Jayelle you carried a bow like Jannah and Forten… I seem to remember you were particularly skilled with leading the Orbaks.”

“Great memory!” Jayelle said. “You don’t miss much either!” 

Rey laughed, doing her best to play it off. She hoped their skills weren’t sharp enough yet to sense her thoughts. She’d used the legacy saber the night before to head back to when they’d met on Kef Bir, making sure she remembered who they’d been. She’d been more than a little distracted that day, and had a hard enough time remembering what she’d done herself let alone whom she’d met.

“I take it Chewie and Lando flew the other _enormous ___ship?” Rey asked, realizing they weren’t there.

“You got it.” Poe replied, ignoring Rey’s snark. “I’ll head to the other side of the island and help them find their way back. Zorii, honey…” he said looking ahead to his wife. “You go get comfortable at the house. I’ll get the rest of our stuff off the ship in a bit.” 

"Sounds like a plan." Zorii replied.

“I’d better come with you, Poe.” Rey added. 

“Sweetheart, you want to get these two settled at our place while I go find dad too?” Jannah asked Beaumont.

“Sure thing.” He replied. “You guys take all the time you need.” He knew as well as any of them the reunion that was about to take place might be a while.

*****

“Gods… let’s hope we don’t have any strong winds… ” Rey said, spotting how narrowly the second freighter had been able to land on rocky strip that jutted out from the south of the island. “The whole thing might tumble into the sea.”

“I don’t think it’s going anywhere.” Poe said confidently. “As long as the landing gear is touching ground, that’s what matters. That thing’s got more than enough cargo inside to hold it down. It would take a hurricane to make it budge.”

“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better…” Rey scoffed.

“Nice landing dad!” Jannah joked as she went ahead and met Lando on the path. 

“What did I tell you, sweetheart? Chewie and I still got it!” 

“That you do!” She laughed.

“Aarrraaggggghhh!” Chewie roared, greeting his friends as they met on the hill.

“Good to have you back Chewie!” Rey said as she hugged him.

“Is this Rey?” Lando asked coming up behind him. “My goodness! You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.”

“Good to see you too Lando.” Rey laughed as they hugged. Of all the stories Ben had told her about his godfather, he’d failed to mention the part about him being such a smooth talker.

As he pulled away from their hug, a seriousness came over him that Rey hadn’t expected. “Listen, Rey, I’m so sorry for your loss. It hit all of us pretty hard what happened to Ben. Knowing you two had been connected like you were the whole time… I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you. The one consolation in all of this was he wasn’t alone at the end. I just- I’m so glad you were able to be there for him like you were.”

Rey did her best to hold back from breaking into a huge smile. She didn’t want to spoil the surprise just yet.

“About that…” She said, staring at the ground and doing her best to sound somber. Finally she looked up when she knew she could keep a straight face. “Why don’t we head back to my place? We can sit for a bit- you, me, Jannah, and Chewie… Catch up on everything that’s happened together?”

“Absolutely.” Lando said firmly. “You girls lead the way.”

*****

Rey stopped them as they came to her front door. “Before we head in, if you three could wait here for just a moment… I need to tidy up a few things before we head in. It will just take a second.” 

“Take all the time you need.” Lando replied. 

Jannah flashed her a big smile and a wink before Rey turned to head in. 

Once inside, Rey found Ben on the couch looking over some texts. 

“Sweetheart, Lando’s here. Are you ready to see him?” she asked.

Ben took a deep breath, calming his nerves as he shuffled the texts to put them away. “Definitely, I’ll go hide in the bedroom. Make sure he’s comfortable on the couch before you bring me in. I don’t want him passing out when he sees me.”

“Good thought…” Rey said, fluffing a few pillows on the couch to make it more comfortable. “Just wait behind the door and I’ll open it when we’re ready for you to come in.” She made sure to put out some glasses of water and tissues, as much for herself as anyone else. 

With one last glance around the space, Rey couldn’t believe how empty it looked. The counters that were normally littered with sippy cups and pacifiers were totally bare. They’d hidden the girl’s toys and other baby gear in the bedroom, along with everything else that gave away a family of four occupied the space. 

Whereas she normally struggled to keep the small place somewhat tidy, seeing it totally free of clutter was a bit unnerving.

It made her realize how different her life would have looked had it actually just been her here alone. It was a reality she was thankful she’d never have to face. She suddenly found herself immensely grateful for all the needful clutter that normally ruled their lives. 

Rey took a deep breath as she opened the front door. “Come on in! Make yourselves comfortable!”

“What a charming place!” Lando said looking around. “And that view! Gods would you look at that ocean. All this to yourself- you’re a lucky woman, Rey.”

“Lucky indeed.” Rey said, unable to hold back a huge smile. 

“Come sit down, Dad. We’ve all got a lot of catching up to do.” Jannah said getting comfortable on the couch.

“That we do.” Lando agreed joining her. Chewie sat on the floor nearby, his head still level with those sitting on the couch. 

“Before we get started… there’s someone else that wants to join us.” Rey said going over to her bedroom door. 

Lando’s gaze darted between at Jannah and Chewie. He was totally confused as to who else would be joining them. Chewie looked back at Rey while Jannah bit her lip, doing her best to hide a smile. 

He looked back at Rey as she slid open the door... 

He froze as he stared at the open doorway... 

He thought surely his eyes had betrayed him... 

For a moment, he thought he saw Han staring back at him... 

No, not Han- another face he hadn’t seen in a very, very long time. 

The person standing in the doorway had the face of a boy he’d once known well. But this wasn’t a boy. This was a man twice the age of the boy he’d once known. 

“Ben?!” He gasped in disbelief, barely able to get the name out. “Ben… is that _you ___?!” He asked, rising to his feet.

“Hey Uncle Lando.” Ben’s voice shook with emotion as he came out to meet to his godfather. Though he was smiling, Rey could sense he was on the verge of tears. As much as he’d thought he’d been ready, a small tinge of anxiety still gripped his heart. Old fears had a hard way of letting go.

Lando walked to him slowly then reached up with both hands, touching his face to make sure he was real. _There’s more than a bit of Leia in there, too. ___He thought to himself.

“But I thought- How is this possible? Did you know about this?!” He asked looking back at Jannah.

She nodded yes as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Lando looked back up at Ben. “When the hell did you get so tall?!”

Ben laughed as his eyes brimmed with tears. 

“So you didn’t- on Exegol, you’ve been alive this whole time?!” Lando asked, still hardly able to believe his godson was standing in front of him.

“It’s a… bit of a long story.” Ben said, wiping his cheeks as a few tears fell.

“Well, kid, we’ve got all the time in the world.” Lando smiled. “Oh Ben, buddy, I can’t believe it’s you!” Emotion overcame him as he hugged his godson for the first time in well over a decade. “Your mother and father, they’d be so, so proud to see you like this.”

With as little Ben had been able to hold it together, the mention of his parents nearly did him in. The moment before he felt himself losing it he sensed a presence that by now he knew well. He knew if they could both reveal themselves in the Force, their hands would be on his shoulders. The calm of their presence was everything he needed. 

His face trembled with emotion for a moment as he caught his breath, doing all he could to steady himself. Finally he said all he could think to say. “I know.”

Lando pulled away for a moment as he wiped his own tears from his face. Ben had never seen his godfather emotional like this. That realization further calmed the anxieties that had been gripping his heart. 

One of the most fearless men he’d ever known had been brought to tears by the sight of him- It was almost hard to believe. As Ben’s fears melted away, they were replaced with immense gratitude for the second chance he’d been given with one of his childhood heroes. 

“I think I’m gonna need to sit down for a second.” Lando said rubbing his eyes, the shock of the moment suddenly catching up to him.

“Go ahead.” Ben smiled, “Sorry if that was a bit of a shock.”

“No need to apologize, that’s the best kind of shock an old man can be given.” Lando laughed as he got comfortable. Ben soon joined him on the couch. 

Realizing they might need some fresh air, Rey opened the doors to their deck. The sea air burst in, accompanied by the sound of the waves crashing hundreds of feet below.

“I bet you never get tired of that.” Lando nodded towards the ocean view. 

“It is pretty nice.” Rey smiled. 

Suddenly Lando caught sight of baskets of children’s toys tucked away behind the open bedroom door.

“Don’t tell me you two have a little one running around somewhere?!” He said as his face lit up with joy.

“Two.” Ben confirmed proudly. “Twin girls.”

“You two _have ___been busy since the end of the war.” Lando smirked. “No wonder you waited so long before bringing us all out here.”

Ben suddenly felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get you out here. It’s taken a little while… to feel like myself again, I-”

Lando raised a hand to cut him off. “You gotta stop with that apologizing Ben. There’s no need for that. With all that jackass Palpatine put you through it’s a miracle you’re still here. Now tell me, what really happened on Exegol? You said it was a long story. Like I said, I’m all ears.”

Ben was grateful for the fresh sea air as he took another deep breath to steady himself. By now he’d told this story more times than he could remember. He could probably tell it in his sleep if he had to. Still, this was only the second time he’d told this story to someone who’d known him growing up, and the added nervousness of that began to have an effect.

“Guess I better start at the beginning.” He said. He began to tell of earliest memories- explaining all that had been behind the bouts of anger and rage that had confused those around him so much.

Lando quickly stopped him again. “Ben- I was _there. ___” He reminded him. “Just knowing it was Palpatine explains everything. Don’t go reliving all that on my account. I saw enough to know there was more going on than any of us understood.”

Ben smiled as he realized what his godfather was saying. “Right… so, what part should I skip ahead to?”

“Exegol.” Lando replied. “What _really ___happened when you two faced the Emperor?”

“So, that’s where it gets really interesting…” Ben went on. He explained how he’d come to Rey after breaking free of the dark side, how they’d fought the Emperor together, how it had taken everything Rey had to defeat him, and how he’d given her his life force to save her. He went through how he’d run through the World Between Worlds to return to Rey, finding her on Tatooine, their time in hiding together, how Poe and Finn had found them, and the choice to come to Ahch To. 

He came to the part about all they’d been up to in the Force since, and figured he’d better get it all out of the way in one go. As he got to the parts about their past lives and travel through time, he noticed more than a little skepticism coming over Lando. 

“It’s true dad, all of it.” Jannah spoke up, having noticed the same. “I’ve been down there myself and seen it as well. Part of the reason I’m here is I was Ben and Rey’s granddaughter in a past life.”

Lando turned to look at her, a little stunned at what she’d just said. 

“I know it’s a lot.” Ben spoke up. “I can stop for now if it’s too much.”

Lando shook his head. “No, no… it’s fine, it’s just-“ Suddenly a smile came over him, “I’m starting to realize why Luke never talked about work around me and Han. If he’d tried to tell us half of what you just said, we would have laughed ourselves into the next galaxy.”

Ben couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Rey quickly remembered all of Poe’s reactions to every time they had something new to tell him. They weren’t so different from their parent’s generation after all.

“The truth of it is,” Lando went on. “You have no idea how much I blamed myself for how our last trip together went down. The reaction you had to that stuff I gave you- I felt terrible, worried it might have had something with your fall to the dark side. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like the Force can throw a whole lot more at you than anything like that could ever do. I’ve seen some wild things in my time but… Time travel? Past lives?! Whatever you saw that night at the festival must have been child’s play compared to all that…” He couldn’t help but laugh.

“Trust me.” Ben said. “That didn’t have anything to do with it. If anything, it was a much needed distraction from the hell that was my teenage years.”

“Wait, what stuff at what festival?!” Jannah asked.

Ben cleared his throat. “We can get to that another time.”

Lando’s laughter continued. “Let’s just say Ben and I had little too much fun on one of our camping trips in the desert. Han wasn’t too thrilled with the state his son was in when I sent him home.”

Jannah rolled her eyes. “I think I get the picture.”

“You were there on that trip.” Ben added. “You were just too young to remember.”

“That’s right…” Lando said remembering. “Gods it all feels like another lifetime…”

They sat silently for a moment as they realized in many ways it had been another lifetime. So much had happened since then, none of them were the people they’d been the last time they’d been together. It occurred to all three of them just how lucky they were to be together again. 

“Speaking of little ones.” Lando spoke up. “Where are these little girls you’ve told me about?”

“A couple of the locals have been keeping an eye on them for me, along with their nurse droid AT.” Rey replied. “Want me to go get them?”

“The sooner the better!” Lando said eagerly. “If they're anything like the little Solo I watched grow up, I’m sure they’re a riot to be around!”

“Chewie you better come with, I’ll need you help carrying them back.” Rey said as she got up to leave. “The rest of you- make sure to save some of those little Ben stories for when I get back, ok?” 

“You got it.” Lando assured her.

*****

When Rey and Chewie got back to the hut, the laughter they heard coming from inside let them know they’d most likely already broken into telling old stories. Rey didn’t mind one bit. She was sure she’d have every chance to hear all the best ones many times over in the years to come. 

“Alright girls.” Rey said as she set them down to walk in. “We have a new friend inside- dada’s uncle Lando. Can you two be on your best behavior for mommy?”

Both toddlers stared at her blankly for a moment before getting distracted and looking elsewhere. 

“That’s what I thought.” Rey sighed smiling. She opened the door and let the two girls rush in. 

“Dada!” Ilaria cheered, toddling over and reaching up to be held. 

“There’s my sweet girl!” Ben said as he scooped her up.

“Nahnah!” Hana shrieked seeing her friend. 

“Hi sweetie!” Jannah said picking her up. “Oh I’ve missed you!”

Lando looked back and forth at the little ones Ben and Jannah held on either side of him. 

“Girls,” Ben said, ready to introduce them. “This is uncle Lando. Lando, this is Ilaria and Hana.”

“Little Solo’s indeed…” He said, more a hint of emotion in his voice. He was awestruck by how much they reminded him of their father as a toddler. “Gotta say Ben… it’s like two of you, but even cuter.”

“Thankfully they got a good share of mom’s looks too.” Ben laughed. 

“You know now that you mention it…” Jannah added. “They do look a whole lot more and more like Rey every day. The hair is all dad’s but, something about their faces…”

“Graaagghh” Chewie uttered in agreement. 

Both girls wiggled down to the floor, eager to play with their toys Rey had just pulled out to keep them occupied. 

“Have they started with the Force stuff yet?” Lando asked.

“Yes.” Ben confirmed. “More than a few times.”

Lando laughed. “That drove Han nuts in the early days. We’d end up just hanging out with you in the Falcon. A ship’s a lot easier space for a Force sensitive toddler- everything’s bolted down.”

“Huh, hadn’t thought of that…” Ben said. 

“Trust me.” Lando assured him. “You will. Sometimes when you got really wild he’d tie a rope to your belt and tie the other end around the base of the dejarik. That way we know you’d at least stay in one place.”

Chewie roared with laughter at the memory.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me…” Ben sighed, unable to hold back a smile. 

As Rey sat to join them, Lando remembered one of his favorite early memories with Ben. 

“There was this one time- Rey you’ll love this. Leia was away for the weekend and I’d come to Chandrilla to hang out with Han. We got a bottle of whiskey out and headed to the Falcon with Ben and Chewie. Han, Chewie and I got really into a round of holochess. Ben, we’d left you on the floor with chalk. You used to love drawing little pictures all over the floor. After a while we weren’t keeping a close eye on you and you got away from us. Next thing I know you were pulling on Han’s arm like “Dada! My chalks gone!”. Han goes “Gone?! What do you mean it’s go-” and freezes and looks down the hallway.” Lando turned and leaned out from the couch to imitate him. “His face just dropped. I mean I thought he’d seen a ghost. I turned to look and you’d covered every white wall panel in the first few feet of the hallway in chalk, solid from the floor to as high as you could reach. That white hallway suddenly had every color of the rainbow. Han just started laughing like “Looks great Ben! Chewie go get him some more chalk, I think there’s some in the cock pit.” You went up and down that hallway, covering it in color for the rest of the night.”

“How far did he make it?” Rey asked. 

“Oh he covered the whole hallway! As far up as he could reach. You should have seen his determination.” He looked over at Ben. “You were so proud, thinking you were helping fix the Falcon up. Eventually it got late and we realized we hadn’t heard from you in a bit. We went to find you and you were asleep in the captain’s chair, covered head to toe in color from all the dust. You’d wore yourself out and fallen sound asleep.”

“That might be the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard.” Rey said. “Sweetheart, I think we might have to go back and find that memory.”

“I’d love that.” Ben said, eager to rediscover that memory for himself.

“You can do that?” Lando asked. “Go back and find specific places and points in time?”

“Yeah.” Ben answered. “We’re getting pretty good at it. We can go back and find just about any point in time in the past couple hundred years at this point.”

Lando thought about it for a moment. “I’ll have to really jog my memory… think of things for you two to go looking for. I’m sure I’ve got a whole lot more good stuff where that came from.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking forward to lots more Little Ben memories in the future. 
> 
> Here's little Ben enjoying some chalk fun from the cartoon "Ben Solo and the Bug Hunters", with some added details by Breyloreylo.
> 
> If you haven't seen little Ben's cartoon debut, go check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1XgODBkwGg&list=TLPQMjcwMzIwMjBaxIlNZ8R_Hw&index=3
> 
> And here's some little Ben and Han feels based off that cartoon. It was shared without credit so if anyone knows the artist please let me know! 


	80. Layers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew take on a much needed project. Rey makes a few discoveries that give her a window into the childhood of the man she loves. 
> 
> Note- Sorry this chapter took a little longer than most. My canon research on this chapter put me through quite the ringer. I’ll talk a bit more about that in the notes. ☺

The next morning Ben headed out with Chewie and Lando in the X wings for some sightseeing around the planet. It would be distraction to allow the rest of the crew time to tackle a project that was long overdue. As soon as they were out of sight of the island, Ben made sure to check in to let Rey know. 

_We’re plenty far out by now sweetheart. You’re good to go to get everyone together. ___

_Do Lando and Chewie sense anything’s up? ___

_Not at all. They’re both just excited to get back in the sky. I think it’s been a while since either has flown for fun. ___

_Well you three enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you back this evening. ___

_Will do, I love you! ___

_I love you too! ___

As soon as Rey had the go ahead that they were all clear, the crew of friends descended together upon the Falcon to give it a much needed deep clean. The ship’s interior had been in rough shape when she and Finn had found it on Jakuu, and it’s time in service in the Resistance had only added layers to the dirt and grime. A couple years on the island as Chewie’s batchelor pad and Porg roost certainly hadn’t added to the ship’s shine.

First things first, Poe led their team of construction droids in building a mobile Porg coop to house the birds outside of the ship. Chewie had around 20-30 birds nesting in the forward cargo hold, producing eggs for the island. They’d need somewhere else to stay if the interior was to remain livable in any way- though calling it livable in it’s current state was a bit of a stretch. 

Once the coop was constructed, Forten’s skills with animals were helpful in transferring the birds to their new home. As the birds got settled, they seemed much happier to be outside. All agreed Chewie would be pleased with the new set up, once he saw how the fresh air and sounds of the sea lifted the little bird’s spirits. 

With the messiest residents of the ship evicted, the real deep cleaning began. There were plenty of spaces in need of care throughout the ship, and between the ten of them and the crew of droids everyone was able to focus on a specific area. 

Rey chose to head to the back of the ship and focus on “Mom’s kitchen” as Ben had referred to it. She’d always assumed the galley had been an original part of the ship, but in going over the details of the interior Ben had recalled how protective his mother had been of the kitchen specifically. The reason for that was Han had added it to the Falcon as a wedding gift to her just before Ben was born. As early as he could remember, Leia had both of her boys well trained to care for it as well as any other part of the ship.

As Rey scrubbed layers of dust and grime from the walls and appliances, she tried to imagine what those early family dinners in the Falcon would have looked like. The kitchen had just enough room for one person to cook, with two bunks on the angled walls behind it. She imagined Leia preparing meals while Ben lay on one of the bunks behind her, playing with his little toy ships. She made a mental note to ask Leia if she had any stories to share about the space the next time she saw her.

“Rey… come see this!” Jyn called from down the hall. She’d been cleaning out the captain’s quarters and Chewie’s room, both of which were right next to the kitchen. 

Rey set down her sponges and went to check on what Jyn had found. She’d told everyone to let her know if they found any mementos from the past, not wanting to miss anything the ship had to tell her about Ben’s childhood. 

She briefly glanced around the captain’s quarters as she passed through them. It brought her right back to how she and Ben had stayed there during their first couple months on the island. Such a small little space… It had been all they’d needed in those early days. 

“I swear I wasn’t snooping.” Jyn said as Rey came into the first mate’s cabin. “I was dusting this shelf and when I went to move this holo disk I hit it on by accident. You have to see this.” She nodded towards a small disk that still sat on the shelf. It was an older disc- clearly a treasured memory from Chewie’s past. 

Rey hesitated, feeling like she too was snooping.

“I already did so you might as well.” Jyn reassured her. “I think he’d be fine with you seeing what’s on it.” 

It was all Rey needed for her curiosity to get the better of her. 

As she switched it on, a hologram of Chewie rose from the disc. He was holding a small child in his arms. The wild mop of dark hair was a unmistakable- little Ben’s chubby fists reached up and pulled on handfuls of Chewie’s fur as he kicked and shrieked with excitement. Chewie hugged little Ben close, purring as the boy’s small arms reached out and returned his hug. 

“Oh wow…” Rey said, her eyes glistening with the happiest tears. 

“I wuv you Chew Chew.” Little Ben said, hugging his friend tight.

“Graaggghhhh” Chewie replied, letting him know he loved him too.

Artist Credit: Kassiopeia.

Rey sneezed and wiped her eyes as the sting of dust mixed with tears overwhelmed her. “Goodness, you could have warned me…” She joked as she caught her breath.

“That would have ruined the surprise!” Jyn laughed. 

“You two aren’t snooping around in Chewie’s things are you?” Cassian teased as he returned to Jyn with more cleaning supplies. The thick layer of wookie hair on everything had been a bit more than they’d bargained for. 

“We are not!” Jyn protested. “I accidentally bumped this chip on when I went to move it and, well, I figured Rey needed to see it.”

“I can see why…” Cassian said, noticing what was on the image. 

“I’ll leave you two to it then.” Rey smiled, turning to head back to all the work that lay ahead. 

“Wait, Rey, quick question before you go-” Jyn stopped her. “What year was this ship built?”

She tried to remember if Ben had said the exact year. “It’s around 60 years old… though I’m not sure of the exact build date. Why?”

Jyn and Cassian looked at each other, their gazes suddenly a bit heavy. “That’s what we thought.” Cassian said. 

Jyn explained. “It’s just a little odd for us, to see a ship from our time and the state that it’s in. This ship- the furniture, the technology, it’s all top of the line from what we remember. But the state it’s in, the wear from all the years it’s seen- it’s clear it’s not a modern ship anymore.”

Rey realized what she was saying. The decades of history the Falcon's existence represented was one of first indications they’d had of how much time had passed since the time they’d known. “I’m sorry you two, I didn’t think about-” 

Cassian stopped her. “Don’t be sorry, there’s no reason to be. It’s just something for us to get used to.”

“If anything, it’s nice to be able to get used to a new time in small doses.” Jyn said.

“Ben and I know all about taking things in small doses.” Rey smiled. “If there’s anything else you two need, let me know, ok?”

“Will do.” Cassian nodded. 

Rey made sure to take the long way around the ship to check on everyone before heading back to the kitchen. 

“How’s it going?” She asked Rose as she found her in the hallway to the cockpit, giving the wall panels a much needed scrub. 

“It’s going just fine, but well, I can’t help but wonder what all this colorful dust is from…” 

“No way…” Rey said as she leaned in to get a closer look. Sure enough, as Rose was wiping layers of grime from the panels, very slight hints of chalk dust were still visible in some spots, especially buried in the crevices around every wall panel. Rey had never looked closely enough to notice. If she had to guess from the mixture of colors, it looked like covering the walls in chalk had become a regular habit of Ben’s in his early years. 

As imbedded as the colorful dirt was in some crevices, there was no getting it out. Rey didn’t mind one bit, but rather found it fitting. It warmed her heart to know tiny traces of Ben’s childhood had been in the Falcon all this time, and would still be there now matter how much they cleaned. 

“There’s a good story behind all this color- one you’ll appreciate with a little boy of your own. Hand me one of those towels and I’ll help for a bit while I tell you. ”

Rose’s eyes lit up as she handed Rey a towel. “This I can’t wait to hear!”

A few hours later, Rey had finished with the kitchen and was taking a look at the fixtures in the cock pit with Jannah. 

“We’ll need to re-upholster all of these chairs.” She said, looking at the sorry state of the cushions. The porgs had wreaked havoc on the seats, ripping them open in spots and stealing the stuffing to use in their nests. “Maybe we can get some material sent from the capital. Something tougher the Porgs can’t rip open in case any do make their way back in…”

“Let’s do leather.” Jannah said. “Make this place look like the top of the line pleasure yacht it was when dad first bought it. He’d love that.”

“That would look lovely…” Rey agreed. She knew leather would be a lot more work, but would be worth it once it was done. She wanted whatever they made the new cushions out of to last for a while, and by now knew how important it was to think ahead. She felt confident that between their combined skills, she and Jannah could do the space justice. 

Rey pulled out a laser to get started on measuring. She started with the seat cushion on the chair behind the pilot’s. As she picked up the cushion, what she saw scribbled on the hard surface on the back side of it made her giggle. She cupped her hand to her mouth as her heart melted further from yet another precious discovery.

“Oh Gods Jannah! Would you look at this!” She turned the seat over to show her friend.

“Ben’s chair.” Was written in the telltale squiggly handwriting of a child just learning to write. 

“We’d better make sure that cushion stays with the right chair then!” Jannah joked.

“Indeed!” Rey giggled. 

As they picked up the seat cushions of the other chairs, each was labeled according to who should occupy it- “Dad’s chair” on the captain’s seat, “Chewie’s chair” on the co-pilot’s seat, and “Mom’s chair” on the seat behind Chewie’s. 

“God’s forbid anyone sit in the wrong chair.” Jannah laughed. 

“Such meticulous attention to detail…” Rey remarked. “Some things don’t change.”

As Rey finished up measuring the chairs, she thought ahead to what needed to be done next. “While we’re on the finishing touches, where are the new sheets and mattresses for the bunks?”

“I’ll get a couple of droids to run up to the freighter and bring them down. I figured I’d wait until the dust settles to unbox them.”

“Good thinking.” Rey sighed. They’d seen plenty of dust that day to last a lifetime.

A couple hours later Rey and Jannah had new mattresses in all the bunks and set to getting new sheets on all the beds. As they unboxed sheets to put on the bunks in the galley, Jannah looked around for something to cut open the packages with. 

“You looking for these?” Finn popped his head in the doorway, handing her a pair of scissors. 

“Thanks!” Jannah said as he turned to leave. 

“How did he…” Rey was confused what had just happened. 

“Actually- it’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about.” Jannah said, pulling a new set of sheets across a bunk. “Are there different types of Force bonds?”

Rey was surprised by the question. “How so?”

“It’s probably just because Finn and I have been training so much together. The more time we spend around each other we have this weird familiar connection. It’s not like what you and Ben have obviously, nothing like that. We can’t talk to each other across time and space and it’s definitely not romantic.” Jannah laughed at the thought. “But somehow, sometimes we know what the other is thinking. I think it may have had to do with how we did so well in the senate.”

As she described it, Rey began to realize she’d been sensing the same thing about them for some time. A connection had begun forming between them as their powers strengthened- or had it always been there? Each time she sensed it, she found herself reminded of Luke and Leia. As she remembered who they’d been to each other in their past life, it began to make sense. 

“Different types of bonds…” She said out loud, mulling it over. “I haven’t heard anything specific about that but I don’t see why not. Be mindful of it and let me know if you sense anything else about it developing.”

“Will do, boss.” Jannah replied. 

As they finished up tucking the new bedding in around the bunks, Rey tried to think if any of the texts she’d studied had included anything on bonds. She couldn’t remember anything specific. The Jedi had forbid attachment once they split into their own order- light users wouldn’t have studied such things.

She wondered for a moment if the Sith had known anything about bonds. She wasn’t as well versed in the dark texts as the light, having only studied the basics so far. What she did know about the Sith was they knew everything there was to know about ways to increase their power, and from her own experience she knew bonds did just that. The specifics of dark side views on attachment and bonds would have to be a question for Ben.

*****

Ben, Lando and Chewie finally made it back from their tour around the planet in the early hours of the evening. The group of friends who’d worked on the ship together waited anxiously for them to find them in front of the ship.

“Guys, they’re coming!” Rey said, spotting them at the top of the hill. “They’re heading this way, get ready, they’ll be here soon!”

The group quickly assembled in front of the Porg coop, hiding it so that it could be revealed it at just the right moment. They couldn’t wait to see the look on Chewie’s face when he realized what they’d built for him.

“Surprise Chewie!” They all cheered as the three rounded the front of the ship. The group proudly stepped back to reveal Chewie’s new Porg coop.

“Breaagghhgh!!!” Chewie roared as he noticed what they’d done. He ran forward to check on his birds and see how they liked their new home. The excited squawks and shrieks they let out told him all needed to know. A space outside was a welcome improvement from the ship’s dark cargo hold.

“MMhrraaaauuh Braagghh.” Chewie said thanking the friends. 

“You’re welcome buddy.” Rey said hugging him. “As many eggs as we’ve been getting from you we wanted to make sure your porgs had the perfect home. We figured a coop like this would do just the trick.”

“So you’re telling me I won’t be bunking down with any birds?!” Lando asked. “Darn… I’d just warmed up to the idea!” 

“Don’t worry dad, we’ve got more surprises for you two inside.” Jannah said, sensing his sarcasm. 

“This I can’t wait to see…” He said heading up the entrance ramp. 

Rey and Jannah looked at each other for a moment as they let him get inside to see the space. A few moments later, they hear just the reaction they’d been hoping for.

“By all the gods… is this really the same ship?!” Lando yelled from inside. 

“The same one you’ve always known.” Rey said as they ascended the ramp to join him. 

A couple moments later they’d all filled the main area. Between the 10 of them and several service droids, they’d been able to get the interior of the Falcon shining nearly as brightly as the day it had rolled off the assembly line in Corellia. The most striking change was the walls were almost back to their pristine white color. Lando and Chewie were the only ones there who’d ever seen the walls so white. Most of the group had assumed they were grey. They’d been shocked to see how bright they were once the layers of grime and ash from years of service had been cleaned off. 

Of course, there were still plenty of signs of the ship’s age and having been lived in- The added mechanical lines that snaked along the walls, missing panels here and there, traces of chalk and children’s handwriting on the undersides of chairs. The personal touches added a unique charm to the space, telling the history of all the years the ship had seen. 

“Wow you guys…” Lando said awestruck as he took in the interior. “This is really something. I haven’t seen this place shine like this since, well… Chewie can you remember the last time it looked like this?”

“MRaaaghhhh, Graah ruhhh.” Chewie said. 

“Since before Han owned it… that sounds about right.” Lando laughed.

“Dad wasn’t much into housekeeping.” Ben remembered.

“No, he loved this ship for what it could do.” Lando said remembering his friend fondly. “Speed and performance- those were his goals. He couldn’t care less what the lounge looked like as long as it made a run as fast as he needed it to.”

“I can respect that.” Rey said with a smile.

“From what I understand, you’re who we have to thank for getting the Falcon back to its old self- after all that idiot on Jakuu tried to do to it?” 

“Unkar.” Rey sighed, having no fond memories of her former boss. “He had a whole list of things he wanted to do to it, but only made it around to a couple of them. I made sure to undo all of them once I rescued it from him.”

“Smart girl.” Lando smiled. “Ben, you found a good one.” 

“I think it’s more like she found me.” Ben replied.

“Isn’t that how it always happens.” Lando’s eyes glowed as he looked back at Jannah. Sometimes he couldn’t believe just how much she looked like her mother. Memories of that time became easier to recall the more he saw of her and Ben together. 

“Don’t you get too comfortable sitting and talking about the old days.” Jannah teased. “We’ve still got plenty of ship to see.”

“Why don’t you lead the way.” Lando said, eager to see what other improvements had been made. 

As they looked through the rest of the spaces together, one thing became clear. The Falcon had entered a new period in it’s history- one that would restore it to it’s former glory, while preparing it for an even brighter future than any it had ever known.

*****

Later that night Ben and Rey cuddled with their girls in bed as they drifted off to sleep between them. Rey loved watching their daughters fall asleep together. The sense of connection that grew between them warmed her heart like few other things in life. Looking at the way they curled up into each other, Rey remembered a question she’d been meaning to ask Ben. 

“Sweetheart… is there anywhere in the dark texts that you’ve found that talks about bonds, or the existence of different types of bonds?”

Ben looked up at her, not having expected discussions about the Force to come up this late in the evening. 

“Not that I can remember, why?”

“It’s just something Jannah was asking about. It got me thinking - do you remember your mother and uncle having an unusually strong connection in the Force?”

Ben immediately knew what she was talking about. 

“Absolutely. Mom would always know what Luke was up to or where he was. I remember when Snoke had me looking for him I was a little shocked she hadn’t found him already. I knew he must have cut himself off from the Force if she didn’t know where he was. She normally knew wherever he was, if he was in danger, that kind of thing. Dad was always weirded out by it actually.” Ben chuckled at the memory. 

“How so?” Rey loved hearing old family stories.

“Well if Luke was coming to visit and he was running late dad would say _‘shouldn’t he be here by now?’ ___And mom would be like _‘Oh he got held up at such and such, he’ll be here in a few hours.’ ___Dad would be like _‘How do you know that?’ ___And she’d just smile and say _‘I just do.' ___”

“That I can totally see.” Rey thought about it or a moment. “So do you know if their powers were stronger around each other or anything like that?”

“It’s hard to say… I didn’t really see much of mom using the Force growing up. Luke was always more chill when mom was around, but then again maybe that’s because my mom and dad were so nuts he seemed chill by comparison.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Sorry...” She said, trying to quiet down. “I shouldn’t laugh.” 

“No you can laugh.” Ben smiled. “It is pretty funny. So what about Jannah made you ask about all this?”

“Just something she brought up… a connection I’d also sensed growing between her and Finn. It reminded me a bit of Luke and Leia when I thought about it. Knowing Finn and Jannah were brother and sister in a past life it sort of made sense.”

“That would be interesting… now that you mention it I know what you mean. I thought it was just because they’d been training together so much, but there could be more to it. It does remind me a bit of mom and Luke.”

Rey was glad to know they were on the right track. The more they studied the Force together and the more their student’s powers grew, the easier answers seemed to come to them. It was a welcome change compared to the confusion surrounding the Force they’d both lived with for much of their lives. 

“Was that all you wanted to ask me about?” Ben could tell there was something else on her mind. 

“Well there was one more thing...” Rey looked down to check both girls were soundly asleep. She then looked back towards the living room. “Now that the girls are both asleep, that box Zorii brought by for me from the capital earlier… I think we should open it together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on Canon- 
> 
> I made sure to study lots of canon material on the Falcon before writing this chapter. When I wrote earlier chapters I just referred to the current floorplan on Wookepedia which kept things simple. However since this chapter talked about the family history that took place in the ship, I wanted to make sure I got the layout of the spaces correct and how they’d evolved through time as I described them. 
> 
> Most of it was pretty straightforward, until I got to the crew quarters. It turns out there is _quite a bit ___of contradiction within canon about what the crew quarters have looked like the past few decades, as well as what they currently look like.
> 
> Basically, two layouts for the crew quarters exist simultaneously in the sequel era if you take a close look at the latest canon material we have. I chose to write as if both areas existed but were located next to each other- the kitchen being further back and the captain’s and first mate’s quarters to the side.
> 
> If anyone wants to know all the contradictory canon details about that space, drop a comment and I’ll list it in the comments since it’s waaaaay too much to post here. 
> 
> Most importantly, the following things are 100% canon:
> 
> -Chewie’s holochip he keeps in his room, containing a hologram of himself with little Ben.  
> -Leia’s kitchen which was added as a wedding gift from Han.  
> -Chewie keeping Porgs as pets inside the ship, and the Porgs destroying the seats.  
> -Rey making tons of repairs to the Falcon after joining the Resistance, reversing several changes Unkar had made to it. 
> 
> Details like Ben writing on the seats and his chalking up the walks are my own little additions. We do know he liked to draw and write from a young age from several canon sources. From what I know of kids, I figured there would have been a couple little discoveries like that along the way. 
> 
> Also worth noting, the Falcon is used as a symbol for Ben in the sequel trilogy. It's part of the original cast of characters, they thought they’d lost the ship when it was taken from them and manipulated by someone who didn’t appreciate it, and it's journey is completed when it’s taken back by Rey. Through her love the ship is returned to it’s natural state. 
> 
> We get a prettty big heads up to this symbolism in TROS when we see Kylo at the beginning of the movie fighting his way through Vader loyalists in a forest of fire. The next time we see the Falcon it’s fighting it’s way through first order ties, and afterward Poe exclaims “It’s on fire! The whole thing’s on fire!”. The two scenes parallel each other perfectly. 
> 
> By the end of the movie, the Falcon is doing what it does best- saving the day while being reunited with those who love it most. The Falcon and it’s journey in the sequel trilogy is some pretty great foreshadowing for all that lies ahead for Ben.


	81. Mind Blown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 3 years of marriage, Ben and Rey are ready to try something new in the bedroom. Everything Rey thought she knew about sex ends up flying out the window. Or rather in, should we say… 
> 
> I had so much fun writing this one I even made a little mood board. Enjoy! 
> 
> Artist credit- JadaBelle

First things first, Rey made sure to open the doors to the deck, letting the sounds of the evening winds and waves crashing below fill the space. They always did their best to remain quiet, but a little help from the outside world didn’t hurt. With two toddlers sleeping in the next room, they always made sure to drown out any sounds of lovemaking with the sounds the ocean provided. 

With the scene set, Rey got comfortable on the couch with the box Zorii had dropped off. Ben had already moved the coffee table to the edge of the room and squared their ottomans up with the couch, making it the shape and size of a bed. A few blankets on top added to its comfort. It was a useful conversion in a one bedroom home with children. 

As Rey opened the box, an array of unfamiliar objects and bottles stared back at her. Just by looking she could tell the functions of a few- one rose colored oval was just big enough to be held in her hand, with a small, rounded suction device on the side. That was sure to be a lot of fun…

Another was a purple rod with a rounded end. It had a raised oval on one side which was crowned with a bud at the top. As she pushed the silver button on the non-business end, the whole thing vibrated with a hum that sounded precisely like everything she’d ever needed in life. 

The largest toy was a bit more obvious- one that was shaped like a cock, with tiny metallic beads visible inside the base, a few inches above the control panel. For a moment she wondered what those were for. Flipping it on, she saw they rolled around the edges of the cylinder, creating a massaging effect, as the head of the cock thrust in and out.

“Well that’s ingenious…” She said as she imagined the potential. 

Suddenly she realized Ben hadn’t said a word. She looked up to her right, noticing his eyes were as wide as they’d ever been, staring down at the box of treasures they’d been gifted. His breath heavy, he was practically salivating at all the thoughts flowing through his head. 

Finally he found the ability to speak. “So um… do I get to try these out on you tonight or….”

Rey smiled mischievously. “If you’re lucky.” 

She looked back into the box to see what other treasures it contained. Cleaner for the toys, lubricant like the bottle she’d remembered in their vision, and one bottle that had particularly stylish writing up the side... 

“Sensation Creation” Rey read as she marveled at the intricate designs that snaked up the edges. “Wonder what that could be abo-” 

“I know what it’s about.” Ben stammered. He was clearly anxious to get started. 

“Oh?” Rey asked innocently. The smaller print that read “sensitivity enhancement cream” below the title told them what they needed to know. “Would you like to try it out on me or-“

“YES” he blurted out.

“Well let me just get comfortable…”

Ben ripped his shirt off and nearly had his pants off before she’d completed shimmying out of her own leggings. She couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but I do think most of these things are for me.” She teased, cocking her head to the side. 

Ben paused for a moment. “I mean… this is all going to lead somewhere… right?”

Rey broke into a smile. “Of course it is. I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh… right…”

 _It is amazing how little blood flows to their brains when other areas of the body are otherwise occupied… ___Rey thought to herself.

“I heard that.” Ben spoke up. 

“Am I wrong?” Rey asked.

“No.”

Rey smiled as she pulled her top of and flung her bra to the floor. Finally they were both naked lying next to each other, eager to get started. 

“Soooo… what should we start with…” Ben asked as he looked down at the array of treasures she’d laid out. The number of options they had was a bit overwhelming.

“How about that sensation creation… it sounds like a good place to start.” 

“Right.” Ben said, grabbing the bottle. He didn’t think to check to see if it instructed the user on how much to use. He quickly emptied a large amount onto his fingers and drenched her cunt, just as he’d seen Tazla do when she’d lubed his own cock. 

The moment the large dollop of liquid poured over the delicate folds between her lips Rey gasped in shock. The look on her face told him something wasn’t right. 

“What?! Is it ok?” Ben asked.

“It’s just….” Rey could barely get the words out. She grab the blankets below her, bracing herself as a thousand different sensations raged in the most sensitive part of her body. Her eyes began to widen as her breath quickened. “I think… I think that was a lot.”

“Oh… is that a problem?”

Rey tried to catch her breath. “There might be such a thing as too much yes…” she finally said. It had definitely been too much. 

With all that she was feeling she wouldn’t have a need for the toys. She wanted to wipe some off, but was afraid what might happen if she touched herself there at all. The slightest stimulation to that area and she’d be…

“So… is there something I should do or-”

“Just give me a moment.” She huffed, cutting him off. She took a deep breath as she tried to think of what to do. There wasn’t much helping it. Whatever this stuff was made of, the amount Ben had poured on her had gone above and beyond doing the trick.

Ben bit his lip as did his best to wait patiently to be told what to do next. 

Suddenly, a burst of wind came in through their open doors. The gust blasted the space, filing the room, covering Rey’s body, shooting right between her legs…

“aaaahhhhAAAAHHHH!!!!” She moaned as her head fell back. 

The friction from the warm gust of air bursting onto her exceptionally tender cunt had been all she needed to put her over the edge. The threatening bundle of pressure that had been building in her clit suddenly burst as she came apart. Her hands gripped the couch cushions and her eyes squinted shut as her body was rocked by a sensation much like those she’d known, but so, so much more…. 

“I- oh gods, BEN!” She gasped, just as a second gust burst through the doors, sending her to an even higher state. 

Instinctively, she slammed her legs shut as tightly as she could as a nearly unbearable bolt of ecstasy ripped through her entire being. She turned her head and moaned louder into a pillow, her hips writhing and legs twisting around each other as she rode out wave after wave of pleasure that threatened to make her lose her mind. 

She wasn’t sure if it lasted one minute or several, the things she was feeling made details like time incomprehensible. Eventually she was able to come down from it and somehow regain a stable state of consciousness. 

Slowly she turned her face from the pillow as she caught her breath. Her vision cleared and she was able to see Ben standing over her. His face was frozen in a state of shock, eyes wide, brow raised, mouth wide open as his mind was overwhelmed with what he’d just witnessed. 

“Are you… are you alright sweetheart?” Rey asked smiling as she continued to catch her breath.

“That was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.” He was finally able to say.

“Well I’m glad one of us was able to enjoy it.” She scoffed, noticing his raging erection. 

“Did… did you not enjoy that?!” He asked shocked, instinctively taking his cock in his hand. He had to do something about the twitching pressure building…

“Sweetheart, I was being sarcastic.” She said, glowing as she stared up at the ceiling. Her mind was still reeling from the sensations that had ripped through her. 

“Damn… “ He said, looking over at the bottle whose contents had caused such an explosion. “Sooooo I guess I did use too much?” He finally asked.

Rey laughed. “That depends on what you want to accomplish tonight. If you had any thoughts of touching my anywhere down here I think I’ve been ruined for that. Anything more than a burst of wind and it might be painful. But…” She looked at how he was already on his way to taking care of business. “If you’d like to watch me enjoying a little more of that while you enjoy yourself I’m sure we could figure something out.”

“A little more of….” Ben did his best to appear innocent. 

Rey propped herself up on her elbows as her eyes narrowed. “Don’t pretend like that wasn’t you. Day one on Tatooine you showed me what you could do with wind. Don’t think I don’t notice such things.”

Ben beamed. His wife didn’t miss much. “Guilty.” He finally said, unapologetically. 

“I know.” She said, smiling as she lay back again. “So what’s it going to be? Are you going to stand there gawking at me all night or do you want to lay down and join me? There’s plenty of room…” She patted the spot next to her.

Ben got comfortable as he continued stroking his cock, coating it with some of the lube they’d yet to use. 

After a few moments he turned his head and practically hummed in her ear with excitement. “Let me know when you’re ready...” 

“Ok…” She said, “Start with something a bit more gentle… I think I’m ready.”

Ben’s eyes were locked on her as he let a delicate breeze roll in over her body. 

“Hmmmm…” She hummed… legs spread… eyes closed. “That’s lovely, a little more?”

A slightly stronger burst came in, ruffling the sheets around them and making Rey lean her hips forward to get the full sensation. 

“Ahhhh, yes… I like that…” 

Ben kept that constant breeze on her for a bit, allowing it to build tension between her legs, sensing all the ways her body responded to what he was doing to her. 

Rey’s movements spellbound him as he stimulated her body without ever physically touching her. 

He’d never done anything like this to her before…

His hand pumped his cock harder as the moments went by. 

“More, sweetheart, _please ___?” She moaned, the tension suddenly not quite enough.

He _loved ___when she begged.

He sent a stronger gust in, one that he sensed would all but do the trick.

“Oooooouuhhhhh…” Rey moaned as her head fell back, mouth open, toes curling as she edged closer to climax. 

As her back arched her nipples stuck straight up, becoming too much for him to resist. 

Ben leaned over to plant his mouth on her right nipple, sucking and circling it with his tongue to add to her stimulation.

“Oh _gods ___yes, please…” she sighed.

His eyes washed over her body as he scanned her every reaction 

The only things he’d be able to do to her this evening were through the Force, and what few things his mouth could add to else where. 

He scooted closer and leaned up over her, sucking her nipple and stroking his cock as he looked back and forth between the sights that played out below him.

He wasn’t sure what was more beautiful… 

Her flushed face that continued surrendering to the pleasure he gave her or her legs that continued to spread wider to the open air in front of them, hips begging for just a bit more…

She was right where he needed her, moments away from coming undone again.

He hesitated for a moment, making her wait just a bit longer before he delivered what she needed.

“Please Ben.” She begged again, reaching down with her right hand and diving her fingers into his hair. The way her touch soothed him made him gladly deliver what she needed. 

A strong gust of wind came in, bursting into the space between her legs and whipping over the delicate bud that craved to be stimulated just a bit more.

“GaaaaAAAHHHhhhhh” She gasped as she came undone again, grasping the sheets, back arching, pushing her breast up into his mouth. 

He closed his eyes, sucking harder as his ears drank in the sounds that came from her. 

His hand pumped his cock more and more, building his own pleasure along side hers.

He wrapped his free arm behind her and held her closer to him as she continued to tumble through her orgasm. 

_Gods ___he wanted to be so close to her in this moment…

She trembled below him as the ripples of pleasure coursed through her. 

Sensing she’d reached her peak, he stopped sucking and leaned his check to her chest, listening to her heart pounding as her body came down from the ecstasy he’d just given her. 

It was one of the most beautiful sounds he’d ever heard. 

After a minute her breath slowed and he looked back up at her. 

Her face radiated with a kind of beauty that came over a women who’d just been thoroughly satisfied in a way she didn’t know possible. 

“You ready to go again?” Ben asked hopefully. 

“I think I can manage that.” Rey sighed. “But this time draw it out a bit more. This stuff is overwhelming and well I’ve probably only got one more before I’m done. Make sure to make this one count. 

“Got it.” Ben said, determined to give his wife whatever she needed. 

He curled up closer to her as he got ready to go again, snuggling his head on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear. 

“It’s so incredible watching you like this.” He whispered.

“Really?” She grinned. “Here I thought I was having all the fun.”

He nuzzled into her hair with what he said next. “I mean…. There are a few things I’d like to be doing to you but… I think I’ll survive.”

“I’m sure it’s terrible.” She giggled, noticing how deeply he’d been pumping his cock.. “I’ll make sure to make it up to you soon.”

“I have no doubt.” He said, kissing her shoulder. “You ready to go again?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He whipped up a few breezes that came in in short bursts. The unpredictability of it teased her and fascinated her as she reached down and spread her lips with her fingers, making sure she felt the full wash of sensation rolling over her cunt. 

“You need some more of that stuff?” Ben asked looking towards the bottles.

“NO” Rey assured him firmly. “I’m just… getting used to enjoying it.” There was a sparkle in her eye as she said it that explained everything. 

“So I _did ___use the right amount?”

“Maybe...” Rey grinned. “We certainly found a way to make the most of it.”

“That we did.” Ben watched in awe again as every part of her came alive again from the sensations she was feeling. 

The way her body was bearing itself to him was almost maddening… 

The way her hips leaned forward, craving just the slightest stimulation from the warm sea air he brought in for her… the way her legs spread, welcoming each gust of wind that he gave her, it was both parts intoxicating and frustratingly beautiful. 

He’d never experienced anything like this with Rey before. 

No matter how much it nearly broke him to see her this way without being able to truly touch her like he wanted to, he couldn’t help but want more of it…

So, _so ___much more…

He wanted so much to reach out and touch the tenderest parts of her, to plunge his cock into her, to dive inside and destroy her like he had so many times before…

But he _couldn’t ___…

Perhaps that was part of the trance he found himself in.

Wanting to be able to do all of those things he knew so well yet not being able to. 

They’d been together long enough that he knew exactly what he’d be doing were he able to touch her, right now, right down to every flick of his tongue and kiss of his lips and grasp of his hands and… _gods ___there were _so many ___things he could be doing to her in this moment…

So many things he knew he couldn’t do. 

So many things he’d done more times than he could remember.

As tender as he sensed she still was, the slightest touch would ruin the captivating experience they both found themselves in. 

He pumped his cock harder and resumed sucking her nipple with all he had as the thoughts consumed him. 

He just… he _needed ___to see her keep doing what she was doing, everything she was doing, more and more of it until the sight of it destroyed him and made him lose his mind in the way that he knew it finally would.

He sensed a bundle of pressure building in her core again, this one powerful enough that he knew it would end her. Whatever the stuff was he’d put on her, a little certainly went a very long way, and a lot, well, a lot had made for a kind of experience he never would have imagined before this night. 

“That’s it sweetheart” he said softly in her ear as he felt her building up for him again. “Let yourself go for me again one more time. Watching you like this… it’s so incredible…” He pumped his cock harder as the sight of his wife’s arousal pushed him closer to where he needed to be. 

“Ben…” she sighed, just before gasping in at another gust of air that hit her in just the right spot. 

“Yes sweetheart?”

“Come with me this time…” She said breathlessly “Come _on ___me.”

“What?” He wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. 

“Come on me, on my chest, on my belly, however you want to, just… mark me as _yours ___.”

Ben nearly chocked as his breath quickened. “You want me to-”

“Yes, Ben you heard me, you know what I want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Gods YES, Ben- I want to know that I did that to you… just by looking at me… something about all this it’s so…”

“Mind blowing?”

“Yes.” She smiled, her face glowing at the thought. 

Something about what Ben was doing to her made her want to feel him claim her in a way she’d never known she needed before.

Something about being stimulated with barely any touch made her want to indulge in him whatever way she could… knowing and feeling she was _his ___… even if that meant something she’d never even considered before.

Somehow, after all this time… Ben found his sweet, innocent wife still knew how to blow his mind by asking him to do the exact things he never imagined her asking for. 

“Ok…” He promised. “Just let me know what you need and I’m right there with you.”

“More of whatever you’re doing- just… _more ___.”

Ben happily gave her more of what she needed. 

With increased pressure from the wind that came in she rolled her hips forwarded, baring the most tender part of herself to it’s energy. 

“Gods Ben I’m-”

“Right there.“ He finished her thought. 

“Yes and are you-“

He was already leaning over her, ready to give her what she craved as she lost herself before him. 

He reached down with his free hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, needing to be connected to her in this moment.

She held his hand to her chest as she felt the pressure building, he was ready to make her come undone one last time. 

Ben pumped his cock with everything he had as he prepared to send in a gust that would give them both what they needed. 

“Honey, please- oh GODS!” Rey didn’t have to finish asking as the warmest, most powerful surge of the night came in, cascading over her body and stimulating her in the most extraordinary way possible. 

“Ben AaaahhhhaAAAAHHH!” She cried, Her back arching dramatically as she gripped his hand to her chest. Her body came undone for him again in a way that somehow still felt wholly new. 

“OH- oh fuuuucckk!” She shrieked as tears streamed down her face. The pleasure bursting inside of her had built to an almost unbearable point, rocking and ripping through her core with everything that it had.

Watching Rey’s body twisting in ecstasy below him was more than Ben could handle. 

He slammed his fist into his cock as he erupted from inside himself, shooting and draping lines of his seed all across his wife’s body. 

After a few moments he had to let go of her hand and brace himself as he fell forward over her, his body still emptying with all he had, bursts of pleasure continuing to rock through him. 

As he looked down he couldn’t help but smile, being proud of what he’d done… there was something primal about claiming her this way...

As they both came down from the height they’d just reached together, they turned to look at each other, panting while trying to catch their breath. 

Rey’s smile told Ben what he needed to know; she’d enjoyed it every bit a much as he had. 

“I’ll go get you a-”

Rey stopped him grabbing his wrist, not ready to let him leave. 

“Just one moment.” She said, still high from the experience of all that had transpired. “Just lay with me here for a second.”

“What ever you need.” He said getting comfortable.

After laying there with her for a few moments he felt like an idiot, realizing he didn’t need to leave to get a towel. 

His hand shot up in front of both of them, catching a towel that flew to him from the kitchen. 

“Here you go.” He said handing it to her.

She giggled for a moment, realizing she could have done that as well. “Thank you sweetheart, guess we're both a little out of it. ”

“That is indeed how the Force works.” He joked. 

“It works quite a few ways from what we learned tonight.” She sighed as she cleaned herself off. 

“It does…” Ben smiled, more than a little proud of all they’d just figured out together. “It certainly does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't wait to see what happens when they try the rest of the stuff out... something tells me they're not gonna wait that long. 
> 
> Props to Zorri for knowing how to pick out the good stuff!!
> 
> Bye if anyone’s wondering how you can do this without the Force- sensitivity enhancement gel and a fan works quite nicely from what I’ve been told. 😉
> 
> *Shameless self promotion*  
> I've started writing a second fic if anyone is interested in checking that one out as well. It's a historic AU and totally unlike this one in just about every way- except for Ben and Rey being the lovely fantastic characters they are of course! I felt myself getting a little writers blocked with this one, and realized I was afraid of it concluding and not having anything to look forward to after. I figured I'd start another little story to have to look forward to and really light a fire under me to get this one done lol. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed coming up with it. I think it will be a fun adventure for Ben and Rey alongside and after this one!


	82. Update From the Author

Hi readers! 

I just wanted to let you all know that the lack in updates lately has been because some personal health problems have kept me away from writing. I didn’t want you guys to think I’d abandoned this fabulous story so I thought I’d better fill you in on what’s going on. Basically any time I look at a screen for a long period of time I get dizzyness and headaches that make it impossible to get much writing done. It’s something that used to happen a lot when I was pregnant but thankfully that’s not the case this time (I’ve made sure to check lol). 

Know that it’s absolutely *killing* me to be away from the characters and stories I love so much. 😭 As soon as I’m able to I’ll be throwing myself back into writing as much as possible!

If it’s something you believe in, please send me some prayers and good vibes that I feel like my old self again soon. A big thanks to everyone who’s been so supportive of these stories so far. I can’t wait to be back sharing updates with you again as soon as I’m up to it! 

Reylo forever! ❤️💙🦋💫  
-Gina aka Thirstorder3987


	83. Practicing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, I'm back! Turns out the hormone shift of weaning baby to solid foods can cause symptoms like pregnancy- who knew? I got some medicine for the dizziness I'd been experiencing and now all is back to normal. Yay!
> 
> As for where we'll dive back in- After all your sweet messages of support and patiently waiting, I figured you guys deserved some more beautiful smut as Ben and Rey enjoy their new box of treasures. We’ll get back to plot and all that next chapter. ;) Enjoy!
> 
> Here's a lovely piece of fan art of how I imagine Ben would look when they're all done... mind blown, barely able to put his clothes on or form complete sentences. 
> 
> Artist credit: littlestarfighter

The next day Rey packed their bag for a trip down to the cave, totally devoid of any of the tools they’d normally be bringing. Seeing what all she’d packed, Ben smiled from ear to ear.

“Today should be a good first day back” He said, kissing Rey on the neck as he watched her pack. 

“The best kind.” Rey grinned. 

“You still feel like heading back to the old homestead?”

“I do…” she smiled. The way her eyes glowed when he mentioned it made Ben realize it was something she’d been thinking about for a while. 

Getting back to the place that defined their early days together- being reminded of that brief but special time- it had been all he’d been able to think about as well. 

“I wonder if I’ll have to excavate the courtyard again…” 

“I’m sure it can’t be in as bad of shape as we’ve found it. It’s only been a few years since we’ve been there.”

“I guess we’ll see when we get there…” Ben couldn’t wait to see what experiences awaited them as they rediscovered their first home together.

*****

As they stepped onto the sand of Tatooine together, it felt a bit like being transported back in time. The suns were setting on yet another long day in the desert. The silence of the desert world somehow felt a bit like coming home and yet totally foreign. The vast emptiness of a desert world was what Rey had known most of her life, yet sometime in the past few years she’d grown used to always having the constant noise of an ocean around. 

First things first, they checked the state of the courtyard. Thankfully it was only covered in a few inches of sand, sand which was gone a few moments later once Ben whipped up winds strong enough to remove it. 

Rey could feel her excitement building as she took Ben’s hand and followed him through the domed entrance down the stairs, through the courtyard, to their old bedroom. 

So many times they’d passed through this space thinking they’d spend the greater part of a lifetime together here. Of course the Force had had other plans- plans more beautiful than anything they could have imagined. In a way, those plans made remembering those early days that much more special. It was the one time in their life when they were the only two people in the galaxy aware of each other’s day to day existence. 

Entering their old bedroom felt like entering a time capsule- it was exactly as they’d left it three years ago. Three twin beds were still huddled together to make one large bed. The sheets were tucked in as if they’d be back that evening. In some way, they’d known they’d be back here eventually. 

“It was so simple…” Rey muttered, struck by the plainness of the space. 

“It was everything we’d ever needed or wanted at the time.” Ben said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. 

She leaned into him remembering how true that was. Her slightly younger self had stood on this very spot, brought to tears by the exact same scene. 

“It was our palace of escape away from the world... in a way, it still is.” She said, leading Ben over to the bed to lay down with her. 

He smiled as he realized what she meant. No matter where life took them in the years that lay ahead, they would always have this space to come back to. 

Being reminded of their early life together reminded Rey of something else that had been on her mind lately- The way they’d watched her little bump grow in this space, the way it seemed bigger each morning they woke up together, they way Ben couldn’t keep his hands off of their cherished treasure as their tiny miracles grew before them. 

It was one of the most joy filled times in her life… one she’d recently found a part of herself longing for again.

Sensing her thoughts, Ben couldn’t help but reach out and place a hand on her belly. 

“Do you remember how you used to do that every morning?” Rey asked, placing her hand on top of his.

“How could I forget?” He beamed. 

“You know I’ve been thinking lately…”

Ben looked up at her, eyebrows raised, both a little anxious and excited about what he sensed she was about to say. 

“…about having more children. Not just yet, but… sometime soon, if you’d be up for it.”

“Exactly how soon are you thinking?” Ben wanted to make sure it was something they both thought through. One spur of the moment pregnancy was enough for one lifetime.

“I was thinking once we get to Kaleth, once we’ve got the time traveling thing down and there’s no surprises, once we’re just going back and forth borrowing, copying, and studying books… that feels like the perfect time.”

“You _did ___get a good bit of studying done when you were pregnant with the girls… I guess it’s a good way to pass the time when you’re off your feet.”

“Exactly.” Rey smiled. 

Ben paused, realizing how perfectly that would line up, along with his true feelings on the mater. “You know I’m up for it if you are.”

“Really?” Rey beamed with excitement. “Even though there’s a good chance that the same thing might happen again?”

“Twins?” Ben sighed heavily for a moment. It was a reality both were well aware of. “Well… we’ve already done it once. If we have to do it again we’ll know what we’re in for. If we end up with just one it will feel like a walk in the park.”

Rey squealed with joy as she wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck. “Oh sweetheart thank you, I’m so excited I could burst!”

“Don’t thank me- You’re the one that has to do all the work. I should be thanking you.”

Rey smirked for a moment as she pulled away. “Well in that case you’re welcome.”

Ben smiled as he looked back at the bag she’d brought. “Speaking of baby-making… we should probably get to practicing. We’ve never actually made one the old fashioned way.”

“The old fashioned way…” Rey sighed. “A lovely thought. I dare say we’ve had plenty of practice but I’m sure a little more couldn’t hurt.”

Ben stared at her blankly for a moment. “By the looks of that bag we’ve got quite a bit of practicing ahead of us.”

“You know I’m up for it if you are.” 

As she pulled the bag over and opened it up, the sparseness of the space opposed to the wealth of treasures they’d brought with them suddenly hit her. It reminded her of just how far they’d come. The feeling of being back in their first home together began to excite her even more than she’d anticipated.

There had been an intensity to their time together here. The feeling of being on the run… being alone together after being kept apart for so long… finally free from the forces of the universe that had sought to separate them... 

The forbidden feeling of finally being together had ignited their passions for each other beyond anything they’d ever imagined. Now, with a new set of tools to enjoy, they were set to enjoy new heights of their once forbidden passion for each other. 

It was everything Rey needed to feel a fire come alive inside her, one she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

Looking up at Ben, she realized he was feeling the same thing. 

Rey bit her lip as she looked down at the toys. 

“So… which should we start wi-“

“Whatever you want.” Ben stammered, quickly pulling his shirt off, his pants quickly following. 

“This little one looks like fun…” Rey said, pulling out the rounded oval with a small suction device. 

Rey suddenly sensed an impatience building in Ben. Somehow he’d already got his clothes off and was laid out staring at her, eyes heavy, as if she’d been making him wait for hours. “Alright, I’m getting to it, just give me a moment.” She smiled. 

His impatience was particularly adorable.

Moments later she had her own clothes off and had climbed on top of him, straddling his waist as he laid below her. She pulled out the sensitivity crème, gathering the courage to give it another go. The tiniest bead on her clit turned out to be just what she needed. 

She gasped as the gel took effect, her eyes widening as it covered her bud. “That stuff _does ___do the trick…. Are you ok to watch me for a moment while I get used to this thing?”

“Whatever you need.” Ben said staring up at her. By the way he said it, she could tell he’d watch her for hours on end if she’d asked that of him.

Rey pressed the button on the side of the toy to turn it on. Looking into the suction cup’s silicone ring she could see what looked like a tiny mouth deep inside of it undulating, creating the pressure of what would be a vacuum once the soft circle was pressed to her. 

She wetted the lips of it, making sure it was lubricated enough for the tender skin it was about to touch. 

Cautiously she lowered it down, spreading her lips with her left hand and positioning it with her right, allowing the soft rim of disc to circle and envelop her clit. 

As soon as it touched her, a steady tempo of pressure began building as the toy stimulated her, gently sucking on her bud with a rhythmic precision unlike anything she’d ever felt. 

“oooh-“ She gasped, closing her eyes and drinking in the full effect. 

“That good?” Ben asked. 

“Better…” She sighed. 

It took some time to get used to, but once she’d found the perfect spot it was _heavenly ___. Her clit seemed to come alive as the mouth of the toy sucked and kissed and stimulated her tiny bundle of nerves.

Ben ran his hands over her thighs, drinking in the feeling of her energy building as she pleasured herself. 

It reminded him a bit of what they’d done the night before, yet this time he knew he’d get to look forward to fully enjoying his wife’s body.

The tease of it only made him hungrier for her. He felt his cock hardening as he watched her enjoying it. 

Rey bit her lip as a climax began to build. She reached down with her left and grasped the back of Ben’s palm to steady herself. 

Slowly she moaned as she allowed the toy to do all it could for her, the pressure it created massaging the most tender part of her body in a way she’d never known possible... 

“Oh gods Ben it’s….” He felt the muscles in the back of her thighs tightening as she built herself higher, threatening to come undone. 

Her brow furrowed and her mouth opened in a gasp as the ecstasy of it threatened to become overpowering.

 _Incredible? ___He asked through their bond.

_It’s… everything…. perfection... ___

As the tiny silicone mouth continued sucking on her, her mind became too overwhelmed to form sentences. 

_That’s it sweetheart… don’t worry about telling me what’s happening. You know I can sense it... Just enjoy all it’s doing to you… You’re so, so beautiful right now… ___

Ben’s encouragement had her fully able to leg go, leaning into the otherworldly sucking sensation the small device between her legs was able to deliver. The short bursts of pleasure continued shooting through her, rolling her towards higher and higher levels of satisfaction and stimulation. 

Desperately she did her best to hold on as the feeling became too intense- in a way that was so, so good she couldn’t pull a way...

Rey moaned heavily as she fell forward, bracing herself with her free hand on Ben’s chest as she came undone. Her chest heaved and her face twisted as her body shuddered with a kind of pleasure she’d never felt before. 

The way the muscles in her thighs clenched as the orgasm rippled through her… the wetness he could feel growing beneath her… the sight of her losing herself on top of him… Ben drank all of it in as his cock twitched with anticipation. 

“You ok?” He asked with a grin as she finally looked up at him. 

“Uh huh.” She answered with the kind of dazed smile he loved to see. 

“You want to keep going like that for a bit?”

“Yeah…” She sighed. “I do.”

Moments later she had the toy back on her, cautiously allowing the soft silicone mouth to work her towards another orgasm. As overwhelming as the feeling had been, she couldn’t resist the urge to dive back in. 

Something about it was addicting and intoxicating… 

She found herself thoroughly entranced by all the toy could for her. The ability to deliver precise, exact suction and stimulation right where she wanted it… 

_Gods ___it was maddeningly satisfying.

Her eyes became dazed as she looked up at her husband, wondering just how much more she could take. It had thoroughly overwhelmed her… and yet she still somehow needed more.

“That’s it sweetheart.” He urged her. “Don’t be afraid of what it can do for you.” 

The words reminded her a bit of another erotic experience they’d shared. 

How things had a way of coming around… 

Rey closed her eyes and breathed deeply, fully surrendering herself to the gripping satisfaction she found herself able to create. 

Somehow, the further she pushed herself, she still felt like the ultimate stimulation she craved was still just slightly out of reach. 

After hesitating a moment against the urge, she couldn’t hold back any longer. 

She reached down and turned the toy’s power up to almost full force, making it deliver suction to her swollen clit that was harder than anything she’d ever felt. 

“Oh GODS!” She cried as she fell forward again, bracing herself on Ben as she had before. 

One long, delicious moan burst forth from her as she exploded from the intensity. Her hand dug into his chest as she tried to hold on, bracing herself against the forces that ripped through her. 

Ben found himself entranced by the sight. How the toy seemed to nearly drive her mad… how, for some reason, she still couldn’t pull away….

Moments after coming down from it, Rey looked up at him with a hunger that had appeared to take over her. She was frantic to find the somehow out of reach fulfillment her body craved. 

Ben did the best he could to hold back as Rey figured out how to enjoy to the toy more and more, moaning harder and louder with each time it made her come undone. 

His hands were all over her- running over her thighs, griping her hips, palming her breasts, grabbing her ass- holding onto as much of her as he could as her body shuddered with the pleasure the toy was creating. 

It felt as though he were witnessing a miracle… in those moments he couldn’t touch his wife enough. 

The sensation of Ben’s powerful hands running over her while she lost herself only added to the intense pleasure coursing through Rey’s body. Finally after losing her on the mouth of the toy more times than she could count, she realized just what she needed to reach a higher level of fulfillment.

“I want...” Rey looked down at him, her eyes filled with need as she came down from yet another heated orgasm. “Ben, I _need ___you inside of me while I do it.”

The words were music to Ben’s ears. By this point his cock ached to be touched, fully rigid from the sights he’d just seen. 

He scooted up and reached down to put himself inside her, eager to be a part of all the sensations she was creating. 

Rey reached below and guided his cock to her entrance. As she slid down on it and let it’s fullness stretch her, she realized it was exactly what she needed to reach the fulfillment she’d been craving. The inside of her body had something to cling to as the rest of her was swept away by the whirlwind of stimulation that had taken control. 

Fully settled on him, she pressed the toy back to her bud again. As she did it, she looked down at Ben with a look that let him know he was in for something truly spectacular.

Ben leaned back into the pillows and put his hands on her hips, ready to see what the experience could do for both of them. 

As Rey turned the device on and began reveling in it’s sensations again, Ben could feel the insides of her walls vibrating in ecstasy around his cock. The tingles it was able to send through her made the muscles in her cunt come alive around him- it was unlike anything he’d ever felt. 

Rey didn’t notice how wide his eyes had gone as she diped her head back and rocked her hips on him, completely entranced by the combination of the toy sucking on her clit with Ben’s cock fully rigid inside her. 

“Oh _fuck ___…” He groaned as the walls of her pussy clenched and shivered around him.

“I told you it was good...” Rey smiled, gazing down at him as she rocked her hips a little more. 

Ben’s eyes were locked in amazement at the tiny, humming device between her legs that was somehow able to do so much. 

“I don’t… I don’t know how long I can last like this....” He gasped, fully in awe of the sensations his cock was experiencing. 

“I’m sure you’ll manage somehow.” Rey grinned, closing her eyes again and drinking in her body building another tantalizing bundle of pressure right where she needed it. 

As she did, they began to levitate. 

Feeling their bodies become weightless, they looked back at each other, both suddenly reminded them of the first time it had happened in this space. 

Levitation was only something that happened in the real world, and by now it was something they were used to. However, feeling it happen again in this space, where they’d first made love together, added an unexpected height of emotion to all they were experiencing.

Together their memories filled with all the desires of the first time they’d been alone like this…

Finally able to fully connect as they’d both dreamed of for so long… 

It had been everything those younger versions of themselves had ever imagined.

And here they were… years later, taking their passion for each other to even further heights than those younger selves could had ever known possible.

Rey’s eyes glistened as the intensity of the moment combined with the surges of pleasure rippling through her body had her ready to come both inside and out. 

She reached down with her free hand and held onto Ben’s waist as she wrapped her legs around him tighter- his cock driving into her spot while the toy continued working it’s magic on her already over stimulated bud. 

Ben took a deep breath and stared wide-eyed up at the ceiling, his mind awash with all that was taking place.

He did his best to center himself- making sure he didn’t get swept away by all that was happening. 

Everything Rey’s body was doing on him had him ready to explode at any moment, yet he desperately wanted this to go on as long as it could. 

Rey gripped the toy as she began to moan louder, making it clear what was coming. The pressure of the toy had found a level of sensitivity that had her cunt throbbing in ecstasy around him. 

Harder she rocked on him, pushing deeper and deeper as she reached for what she needed…

Her mouth hung open as her brow clenched. Her hand gripped his waist as her body shuddered with pleasure that would clearly push the limits of her sanity. 

Ben braced himself, holding tightly onto her thighs as he felt every muscle in her body ready to come undone. 

Suddenly her face twisted and her head fell back as an orgasm burst through her. 

She let out a yell that was so deliciously beautiful, he had to hold his breath and look away to keep from coming himself.

The intensity of the climax had Rey feeling like her mind was coming apart. 

An explosion of energy ripped through her body and up through her core, the heat and ferocity of it overwhelming her both inside and out.

Her lungs threatened to burst from her chest as she screamed with the profound ecstasy that had taken hold... an ecstasy that made finite concepts like time suddenly irrelevant. 

After what felt like forever, she began to feel her consciousness return to her. Her mind seemed to enter her body again as she felt herself catching her breath. 

As her vision came back to her, she gazed down at Ben- and found the awe struck face of a husband who clearly wouldn’t last through another of what she’d just put him through. 

His mouth hung open in wonder as he stared up at her. He couldn’t believe what he’d just experienced- nor could he believe he’d somehow held on and not lost it himself. 

Years of practice had come in handy in that respect. 

“Gods, Rey… that was _amazing ___…” was all he was able to say, his mind at a loss for words.

“You’re telling me…” She panted, still catching her breath from how hard she’d just come. 

“There’s no way in hell I’m gonna last through another one of those...” 

“Works for me.” Rey smiled. “I think my body might actually come apart if I tried that too many more times.”

“But… you do want to keep going though?” Ben hoped he hadn’t misjudged by holding off. 

“Oh… _absolutely ___.” The tone in her voice let Ben know she’d found something she now couldn’t live without.

“I’m ready when you are.” He smiled, eager to get started again. 

“This time let’s try something different…”

Moments later Rey had spun around on him to face the other way. 

“Sit up behind me, I want you to hold me in your lap for this one.” 

Ben pulled himself up to her, their shared levitation aiding their movements as they got comfortable together. 

“Whatever you need.” He whispered in her ear as he nuzzled her neck, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Without needing to be told he placed his hand on he belly, gently pushing into her spot making his cock grind up against it just how she liked.

“Mmmmmm yes…” She moaned, leaning into it. “That’s perfect.. I want you to control this one with me.” 

She brought his other hand over to the one she held the toy with, allowing him to hold it with her. She didn’t have to voice why- should she hesitate, Ben could hold the toy to her to make sure she fully dived in. 

Slowly she began rocking on him as he kissed along her neck, nibbling her ear- he was so entranced by all her body was doing to him… he had to add to her stimulation however possible. 

The toy began building pressure again in a way that mesmerized both of them- the instant tingles that shot through Rey’s cunt from her over stimulated bud… the way it made her pussy shiver and clench harder and harder on Ben’s cock…

Both leaned and moaned and rocked into each other, the sensation of their shared experience sweeping them away more and more as the intensity continued to build. 

Rey whimpered between heavy breaths as her fingers gripped and trembled around the toy- Every part of her pussy was already so sensitive, yet still something deep within her core craved more… 

More of the throbbing and shivering and mind bending feelings that surged through her cunt… 

More of the precise ecstasy the toy was able to deliver…

More of the feeling of her body tensing and unraveling on Ben’s cock in a way that had shattered her mind utterly before.

Deeper and deeper she moaned as she rocked down on Ben’s cock, needing more of what the combined sensations could give her.

The sounds that came from her mouth had Ben feeling like and animal, driven wild by the tease of what was happening in his arms. 

His hunger for her had him gliding his teeth along her shoulder, teasing her with a bite. 

“Please…” She gasped in between moans. “Please Ben I…”

Without needing to be told, he knew what she needed. His finger on the toy slid over and turned it up a notch, heightening the force of stimulation as he nipped and kissed along her shoulders. 

“Ahhh.. aahhh … aaaAAAHHH!!!” Rey gasped as the toys mouth overwhelmed her, pushing the tension bound up within her higher and higher, her hips shivering and rocking with the intensity of the sensations that rippled through her. 

For a second her grip on the toy relaxed. Her mind was at it’s breaking point- almost willing the onslaught to stop. 

Still Ben held it to her, not allowing her to let go of the very thing she needed most. 

Her head pushed back into Ben’s chest as her body tensed against the overwhelming forced stimulation she was experiencing. 

She couldn’t hold on much more… it was so close to being too much… She wasn’t sure how anything could be so painfully good… 

“Hmmmmm _Ben ___…” She groaned, her body arching over while her face twisted in serene agony. Her head leaned back and her eyes clamped shut as her cunt thoroughly drowned in the sensation of all that was happening.

“Fuck, _Rey ___…” he growled in her ear, grinding and thrusting his cock up into her as he dug deeper to feel everything her body was doing to him.

Completely overwhelmed, she pulled her hand away from the toy, allowing him to take over. 

Her hands wrapped around his arms, gripping them to her tightly, bracing herself for whatever came next. 

Taking that as his cue, Ben turned the toy as high as it would go, leaning back slightly to thrust into her as deeply as he possibly could. 

His cock drove mercilessly into the spot she needed to come undone… forcing the deepest, loudest moans yet out of her as her body prepared to unravel.

Finally, her fingers dug into his arms as his cock fucked her past breaking point- her body exploded on him in an orgasm that pushed her further past the limits of consciousness than anything she’d ever experienced. 

Feeling the surge of energy that ripped through her body, the walls of her pussy gripping and undulating on him, Ben exploded along with her. His cock throbbed as his seed shot up into her, his hips rumbling with the thunder of an orgasm that had taken all of his strength to hold back. 

Rey’s head pushed back into his chest as he held her body to his. Both of their bodies pulsed with pleasure as they came undone with everything they had- their shouts of passion echoing off the walls of the tiny space. 

They weren’t sure how long it lasted, but eventually both began to drift back down onto the simple bedding below. Rey collapsed back onto Ben as he continued to hold her, his mind surging with love for the woman who’d just rocked his world beyond anything he’d ever imagined. 

Rey pushed her hair out of her eyes, turning her head over to meet the kisses Ben had begun peppering her cheeks with. Their lips locked for a few moments as they basked in the glow their combined passion had achieved. 

A few moments later Rey pulled away. “I think we owe Zorii a very big thank you.” She said, smiling as she brushed Ben’s hair out of his eyes. 

“We definitely do.” He beamed. 

Once they’d caught their breath, Rey looked back down towards the bag they’d brought with them. 

“I’d say that was a more than successful first round…” she sighed. 

“First round? You mean you’re up for more?” Ben was stunned by what he’d just heard.

“Definitely not just yet. I might need an hour or two more of cuddling, not to mention some lunch. But… like you said earlier, if we’re going to be making babies the old fashioned way, we’re going to need to get to practicing.” 

Ben glowed as he leaned back in to cover her shoulders and cheeks with more kisses. “You know I won’t argue with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Blissful sigh* There's no romance like Reylo romance. And more Reylo babies in the future?! Woohoo! 
> 
> Now where were we, plot and all that... 
> 
> New padawans to welcome and lots of exciting challenges ahead... I made the most of time off and planned out all the remaining chapters right up to the very end. Looks like we've got around 30 chapters left before out OTP gets their truly happily ever after. Lot's of romance and adventures await! So excited to be back on this journey with you all!
> 
> Also by request here's the link for the various products I've talked about in these two chapters:
> 
> The Womanizer- https://www.womanizer.com/
> 
> This toy is worth *every damn penny*. I have the first model from when it first came out. That's the one that's described in this chapter. It looks like there's a couple new designs out now! Time to update my Christmas list lol...
> 
> As for the others:
> 
> Here's an article on various kinds of sensitivity and arousal gels. I haven't tried a sensitivity gel in a while but when I did use them WHEW buddy. A slight amount of wind from a fan would be enough to put you over the edge if you put enough on. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a28761859/best-arousal-gels/
> 
> Here's the vibrator with massaging beads that thrusts. This thing is the king of vibrators. https://www.tootimid.com/collections/rabbit-vibrators/products/thrusting-bunny-orgasm-pink
> 
> It looks like the purple clitoral vibrator I described isn't sold anymore, but here's the closest thing they have too it. Lelo vibrators are the best! Also worth every penny. https://www.lelo.com/mia-2


	84. Lifting Rocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jayelle and Forten prove to be a strong addition to the Order of Skywalker. Ben and Rey realize it may be time to take them on the next step in their journey....
> 
> Here's a manip I did of our order of Force users! Hope you guys like it!

Rey sat with Ben on the upper peninsula, enjoying the sight of their four padawans training together. A couple of months had passed since Jayelle and Forten had joined them, and so far they’d exceeded their masters expectations every bit as much as Finn and Jannah had during their own training. 

Jayelle and Forten’s sparring skills had blossomed quickly after they’d constructed light sabers. Both saber’s had turned out blue, just as Finn and Jannah’s first sabers had been. Saber building was a skill Jayelle took to particularly quickly, bringing quite a bit of experience building and tinkering with weapons from her time on Kef Bir. 

Finn had taken the chance to build himself a new saber as he and Jannah taught their padawans to build their own. This time around his had come out green. Rey loved how the green beam stood out in the sea of blue as they watched the four of them practicing together. In a way, it was a reflection of Finn’s unique fighting style among the other students.

One thing Rey hadn’t anticipated was the difference in fighting styles their four students had among them. Jayelle and Forten’s fighting style was much more savage and raw. Watching them reminded her a lot of Jannah, and it didn’t take long to realize why.

Whereas Finn had gone from one military order to another, always leading a life of discipline and following orders, the other three had led their own lives and forged their own existence for some time. The fighting skills they’d acquired and honed on Kef Bir were more brutal and savage, much more primitive than skills gained from a military background. 

It oddly reminded her of a tamer version of Ben when he’d been Kylo- his fighting style had been so savage, so unhinged. Snoke had done his best to instill order in him and yet none of it had ever stuck. It wasn’t until he broke free of the dark side, joined Rey, and found balance that his skills became more polished and fluid. 

Neither fighting style was wrong necessarily, as long as the wielder was in control and knew the strengths and limits of their abilities. Appearing less predictable could be a benefit if used correctly. It kept one’s opponent on the defensive, unsure as to what might come next. 

Rey loved watching how the two fighting styles came together when Finn and Jannah sparred- the disciplined and the savage, the calculating and the no-holds-barred, the honorable and the alls-fair. 

Watching Jayelle and Forten however was a thrill all it’s own. Ben and Rey never knew quite what to expect from the two of them. Their energies flowed between them in a way that reminded them a bit of their own bond, yet it was electric and unpredictable. Just when their masters thought they knew what they’d do next, they‘d throw something totally new into the mix that had them pushing each other’s skills to new heights. 

After watching the two pairs going at it for a while, Rey realized it was time to mix things up- to see how they all did against someone that wasn’t their training partner. 

“Alright you four, lets switch up. Finn against Forten and Jannah against Jayelle.”

“The students and the masters” Jayelle smiled. “This should be fun…”

Rey loved seeing how much Jannah thrived having her friends back with her. She hadn’t noticed it before, but having the two of them on the island made her realize a part of Jannah’s heart had been missing leaving her friends behind. Rey of course understood perfectly. Leaving her own friends behind when she went to Tatooine with Ben had felt like she’d lost a part of her soul. As important as it was to be with one’s other half, community and friendship were also important parts of making a person feel whole.

As she watched the four sparring together, she could tell the switch was helping them find strength in their individual styles. The stronger each became, the more they challenged each other and sharpened their skills. Rey couldn’t wait to see where having more students to train with took each of them in the future.

Rey thought back to Ben, how his skills had evolved with his shift in the Force. She realized in that moment attachment had made him go from wild and untamed to a polished force to be reckoned with. Wheras Kylo had been brutal and savage, a master of the dark side, Ben was strong in both sides of the force- able to wield a saber in whatever manner benefitted him best at the time. 

Her own skills had become more diverse as well as soon as she’d resumed training with Ben after the girls had been born. She loved feeling the fire that came into her when she and Ben trained together. It was clear their shared presence balanced and empowered each of them in a way that never would have been possible on their own. 

As Rey thought about all the different lives they had all led, she was reminded again that she was the only one of the six of them who’d never been a member of the First Order. Yet she was the one who’d been born to such a legacy. 

Such an odd twist of fate…. 

The reminder of how much the First Order had impacted their student’s lives was clear in their very names. Jannah was the only one of the four who’d come up with a name totally different from her storm trooper number. Like Finn’s chosen name, Jayelle took her name from her first two letters of her number- JL-3621. Forten had chosen to take his name from the last three numbers of his-JL-4410.

For a moment Rey wondered if the other five members of her order had ever been at the same place at the same time- assembled at a meeting of forces… looking after each other in the heat of battle...

She realized her answer as soon as she thought of it. 

Jannah, Jayelle and Forten had been in the same company- and it had been enough strength in the Force to cause their entire company to mutiny. 

Kylo and Finn had been in the same company as well. The strength of each other’s presence had been enough to make Finn to defect from the order while saving the strongest pilot in the Resistance- a choice that led all of them on the path that had determined their destiny. 

The dark side’s hold had been stronger on Ben after all he’d been put through, but even after a lifetime of control and manipulation, he was eventually able to break free. 

Rey had sensed he’d been close many times before it happened- when their hands had touched, when they fought together in the throne room, flashes of it during moments when they connected in their bond. When he did finally come to her it felt as if a dam had burst. Her presence in his life had been the final piece needed to break his soul free from a power that had controlled him his entire life.

Finding each other at different times had been what eventually broke all five of them free from the grip of the dark side. It was a powerful testament to the power of connection between Force users. As she thought about it, her thoughts naturally focused on Ben- the stark differences between the life he'd once led and the life he lived now. 

“Did you ever think you’d be training a group of former storm troopers to use light sabers?” Rey asked, turning to look at him.

“This is literally the last thing the old me would have ever imagined.” Ben said smiling.

Rey remembered another question that had been on her mind for some time- one she’d been meaning to ask but kept forgetting to. Ben was becoming more comfortable with questions about his old life, and Rey felt freer to ask about things she’d been curious about. Watching their students together felt like the perfect time. 

“Do you remember sensing a lot of force sensitives in the order?”

It wasn’t an answer Ben had to think about. It was a reality he’d been painfully aware of his entire time on the dark side. 

“The First Order did a lot to condition troopers to believe the Force wasn’t real. Not believing in it made their minds less open to it, so they tended to keep those parts of themselves repressed out of fear. The last thing the order wanted was anyone with special abilities testing them out.”

The thought both broke Rey’s heart- and struck her as incredibly ironic. 

“They told troopers the Force wasn’t real- but had you walking around commanding troops with a lightsaber and freezing prisoners right before their eyes?”

“Snoke made sure those in my company didn’t have the Force. That way when they did see the Force being used, there wasn’t a risk of it awakening any abilities they had.”

One particular irony of that immediately struck Rey. “And Finn? How’d he make it past them?”

“Well… Finn is special… Apparently he knew how to hide his Force abilities before he even knew he had them. “

Something about that didn’t add up for Rey. “Have you ever known Finn to be able to lie about _anything ___?”

The truth of it struck Ben. “Good point… something else must have been looking out for him to make sure he ended up with me.”

Rey voiced her thoughts out loud as they came to her.

“Something made sure he ended up with you… while on his first mission on Jakuu… where I’d spent most of my life.”

Ben turned to look at her, the same thoughts coming to him as well. “The Force made sure we ended up on Jakuu together… and put Poe there with us too.”

They stared at each other for a moment as the truth of it struck them. 

Rey’s family _had ___come for her on Jakuu after all- not the family she’d expected, but one she hadn’t known she had.

“I always knew my family would come for me…” she said, almost in a whisper, as a single tear began to fall down her cheek. 

“And we did.” Ben said, reaching up to wipe the tear from her cheek.

Rey held his wrist as he touched her face, thinking on all that realization meant. “My other half, and my son and grandson from a past life all came for me… and it’s taken me this long to realize it.”

“You’re not the only one- we didn’t have much of a clue what was going on at the time. Would you have believed it if someone had explained it to you that way back then?”

Rey smiled. “Not a chance.”

“The Force tells us what we need to know, when it feels like telling us of course.”

“Training former storm troopers in the Force and quoting your uncle Luke… Ben Solo has turned over a new leaf.” Rey teased, cocking her head to the side.

“Don’t tell anyone, ok?” Ben smirked “I don’t want that getting out to far.”

“You’re secret’s safe with me.” She said, looking back towards their students. 

As Rey thought more on the realization she just had, it fit perfectly with another realization they’d both been sensing lately. What they were doing wasn’t just creating an era of balance, they were also starting a new era where attachment would be seen as a strength for Force users, not a weakness. 

Watching her students drills come to an end, she made her mind up on how they’d finish out the day’s lessons. 

“Ok you four- once you finish up get some water then come join us. We’re going to finish up today with one of Ben’s favorite activities- meditation.”

Ben scoffed. “You know me so well.”

Minutes later they sat at the top of the ridge in three pairs, each pair forming the point of a triangle. A pile of rocks sat in the middle of the triangle- one they used for levitation practice while meditating. 

Rey spoke out loud as she began the day’s meditation. 

“My fellow students of the Force… friends… family…  
Breathe deeply as you begin to let go of all of the thoughts of the day...  
Set them down and walk away from them as we approach our true purpose in this moment...  
Breathe…  
Feel the coolness of the ocean’s air as it comes into your body…  
Feel its energy as it fills your lungs…  
Feel the energy of your body as it connects with the Force around us.”

Through her words she could feel the six of them becoming more grounded and at peace.

“Take your partners hand in the Force as your minds continue to combine and become one...  
Think of how it feels to be working alongside your training partner…  
Remember all the things you’ve noticed about each other...  
All the things you’ve improved upon as you work together...  
Be mindful of those strengths as we all make our way to our true purpose in this moment.”

As each went deeper in their minds and connected with the planet’s energies, they all began to levitate several feet off the ground. Soon it would be the student’s turn to begin to forge their own paths in their minds. They heard Rey again, reassuring them.

“Trust your minds in this moment...  
Let go of any anxiety that may be holding it back...  
Any tension you may find, release it... set it down... let it melt away.”

After a few moments, she knew it was time to give them their one final direction before allowing them to go deeper into their minds on their own. 

“See what the Force has to show you from all you’ve learned today…  
See what your partner has to share with you about what they’ve learned…  
Allow your strengths to build each other up...  
Support each other on this shared journey...  
From the power of your friendship and love for each other, see what the Force has to show us about all we can achieve together. “

As the strength of their combined powers began to flow between them, the pile of rocks that had sat on the ground began to lift and spread out. Moments later the rocks had begun orbiting each pair as the pairs traded energies and thoughts on all they’d accomplished that day. Spheres of rocks encircled each pair as they supported and encouraged each other in their journeys in the Force. 

As the six of them went deeper into their meditation, they began sharing energy not just with their partner, but with the other pairs as well. Sometimes the rocks would trade places with those in the other spheres, signaling a trade in energy. Eventually the flow of energies between the three pairs became so fluid, the rocks no longer appeared in three separate speres, but rather formed a sort of triskellion shape around all six Force users.

*****

Down by the village, Poe, Cassian, and Beaumont were working on putting some new rows of vegetables in. As the island’s population grew, so had the need to produce more food. 

“Do you think this will be enough?” Cassian asked as they had the space roped off.

“It should be more than enough…” Poe said looking around. “Then again… the way Zorri’s been eating greens we may be putting two more of these in next week.”

“Well, if we need to put more in you know where to find us.” Beaumont laughed. 

Several minutes later Cassian had set to digging a new row for planting. The twin suns hanging low in the sky caught his eye for a moment. As he looked up, he saw another sight on the hill that had him questioning everything he knew. 

On the hill above them he could clearly see three pairs of humans not just levitating, but weaving rocks through the air in and around them at the same time. 

He stuck his shovel in the dirt, leaning on it as he stood for a moment to come to terms with what he saw taking place. 

“Hey, Poe.” He nodded up the hill once he’d got Poe’s attention. “Is this the weird “Force stuff” you said we’d get used to?”

Poe turned and squinted into the suns as he looked up the hill. Suddenly his mouth fell open in shock. He was more than a little baffled about what could possibly be going on. 

“Nope…” He said as he turned to get back to work. “That right there… that’s just weird.” 

“Something tells me it’s just going to get weirder and weirder isn’t it?” Cassian replied, still watching the extraordinary sight taking place up the hill.

Poe smiled, pausing again. He looked back up the hill as he remembered all the incredible revelations they’d had since coming to the island. 

“If that isn’t the truth.... A few years ago if I saw that I’d think I was losing my mind. Now I’m just going along, minding my own business like “Oh, cool! Six people are floating in midair, trading magical rocks back and forth. Typical Ben and Rey gathering! Glad the kids are having fun!” 

Beaumont joined them in watching what was taking place up the hill. “Do you think the galaxy will be ready for all this- when they’re ready to tell their story?”

Poe thought about it for a moment- remembering all the reactions he’d seen in the senate during Finn and Jannah’s demonstration. 

“I think the galaxy’s been ready for it a lot longer than it realizes.”

*****

Rey and Ben’s hearts were filled with peace and purpose as they felt the energy of their students thriving and growing around them. Deep within their own minds, a thought began to reveal itself – their shared consciousness kept centering on how well Jayelle and Forten had fit into their group of Force users. 

Both knew by now the Force had a way of bringing people together for a reason. There was often some ultimate destiny it needed to see fulfilled. In their case, and in the case of several of their friends on the island, that purpose came from unfulfilled paths in past lives. Their souls had roles that had been played before that needed to be revived in this time to complete their journey. 

Together they began to wonder what Jayelle and Forten’s place would be in that… it was clear they’d been brought together with Jannah for a reason, and ultimately the three of them had been brought to Ben, Rey and Finn for a reason. 

Rey was the fist to voice it through their bond

_Since we were on the subject of past lives earlier, do you think it’s time we take the new kids down for a trip to the cave? ___

_Absolutely... They’re more than ready. ___

_Do you want to be the one to tell them or should I? ___

_You can tell them. I know how much you love delivering exciting news. ___

Their students could feel their master’s presence in the Force glowing with excitement as they made plans to take their students on the next step in their journey- finding out what paths the Force had planned for them to be picked up in this lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cave trip time! Yay!
> 
> Notes on canon- all the background info on Jayelle and Forten and their life on Kef Bir is canon. What Ben shares about the First Order making troopers believe the Force isn't real is true as well. 
> 
> It seemed odd to me that Jannah would have an entire company of Force sensitives while there was only one in Kylo's company. I would think the Force would try to bring Force sensitives together. It only made sense to me Finn was the exception in Kylo's company for some special reason. It didn't take long to think what that reason might be for the first scene in TFA to come up... Watching that scene now gives me chills. Her family came for her after all. :)


	85. Legacies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The order of Skywalker enters the cave as an order of six for the first time. As soon as they enter together, it’s clear the cave has a lot to show them…

Rey felt positively gleeful as she walked down the back side of the island with Ben and the four other members of their order. It wasn’t that long ago she and Ben had first made their way to the cave together, unsure of what they’d find in it’s mystical realm. Now here they were set to enter with four others- ready to show their two newest students the truth about past lives, and how the Force weaved in and out of all the generations that had come before.

She made sure to check in with Jayelle and Forten as they walked alongside her. “How are you two feeling this morning? Excited or nervous at all?” 

“I’m ecstatic.” Jayelle said smiling from ear to ear. “I could hardly sleep last night thinking about it. Poor Forten here just wanted to get to sleep and I kept bugging him with all my ideas and what ifs of what we might see. He’s not as easily excited as I am I guess.” She turned to smile at her husband to see what he might say. 

After a moment Forten spoke up. “I never knew my real name in this life, yet we’re about to see who were were in a past life. Bit ironic- that.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. 

If Ben was rarely a man of many words in crowds, Forten made him look practically verbose. He rarely spoke up much among his new group of friends, typically saving his words for well timed quips that kept the rest of the group laughing whenever he surprised them with his wit.

“Given names are a bit overrated if you ask me.” Rey joked, tying to join in the humor. “As soon as I found out my family name I couldn’t be rid of it quickly enough.” By now her new padawans were all well aware of her lineage. She hoped the self-deprecation might make Forten open up a bit. 

It seemed to have the opposite affect as he just smiled, unsure what to say.

After a few moments he took a few steps ahead to join Jannah in front of them, who’d started recalling all the wild turns her own first trip to the cave had taken. 

Rey felt a bit defeated as another attempt to connect with the male half of their new padawan duo had failed. 

“Don’t worry.” Jayelle said leaning over to whisper to her. “I know he seems a bit aloof but he’ll warm up to you eventually. He just takes a while to get used to new people. Once he does, you’ll see the real Forten.”

“Trust me-” Rey smiled, realizing how familiar that sounded. “I know all about that.” She’d noticed a bit of a pattern among the two Force sensitive men she already knew well- two men who had a habit of taking their time to open up and be their true selves around new people. 

_I heard that. ___Ben suddenly said through their bond.

 _Heard what? ___Rey was stunned he’d heard her thoughts that quickly.

_What you were thinking about me and Finn- about Force sensitive men. How we take forever to warm up to people. ___

After a few moments there was only one thing she could think to say. 

_Am I wrong? ___

Ben replied instantly. _No… that’s totally fair. ___

Rey laughed as his honesty hit her.

“What is it?” Jayelle looked at her confused. 

“Nothing it’s just… they don’t realize how incredibly similar they are.” Rey nodded toward the three men at the head of the group. The three of them were listening silently to Jannah who’d grabbed all their attention with her retelling of other earlier cave adventures.

“I’m sure they will in time.” Jayelle smiled.

*****

As the six of them wrung salt water out of their clothes on the cave shore, Rey and Ben could already sense the cave’s energy responding to their presence. The first time they’d visited with Finn and Jannah they’d thought they’d sensed an increase in the Force’s activity. This time it was unmistakable. The six of them together represented something big- it was clear the cave had a lot to show them.

“So we have to go for a swim every time we come down here?” Jayelle asked, squeezing water out of her braid. 

“Yeah… we haven’t quite got funding for an elevator yet.” Finn joked. 

“An elevator…” Rey scoffed. “That will be the day. Consider yourselves lucky that you have us to lead you. The first time I came in here I was all alone. I was probably the first person in thousands of years who’d been down here.”

“You came in here by yourself?!” Jayelle asked stunned. 

“Yep. Just me.” Rey said proudly.

“You seem to have a bit of a habit of exploring places strong with the dark side all by yourself…” Forten noted.

Rey laughed as she remembered the circumstances of when they’d first met. He made a fair point. 

She smiled at Ben as she finished wicking the last bit of water from her leggings. “Like the Death Star wreckage, something told me there was something in this cave I needed to see.”

After a moment she noticed Forten was looking around the cave, eyebrows raised. He was clearly intrigued by what she’d said. 

“Speaking of things we need to see...” Ben nodded behind them, noticing the mirror portal had appeared. 

As the six of them turned around to look, the Force grabbed a hold of each of them. Their bodies were frozen in it’s grasp as it began to slide them into position like chess pieces on a board. It lined the six of them up with Ben and Rey in the center, Finn and Jannah to their left, and Jayelle and Forten to their right. 

“It’s alright…” Rey called out to assure their students, sensing a bit of fear spiking in them. “It’s just lining us up, assuring we’re ready to see what it has to show us. Apparently the Force is feeling very assertive in it’s methods today.”

“If this is assertive I’d hate to see when it gets angry.” Jayelle laughed.

“Thankfully we’ve yet to see it angry.” Rey assured her. 

Looking at their reflections in the portal, thousands of versions of Ben and Rey stretched out before them. The two masters had made sure to brief their new padawans ahead of time about what to expect based on what they’d seen before. As the visions of the past became more and more complex, the less surprises everyone had the better. 

Turning to look behind them, the same familiar lineup of faces stretched out as far as the six of them could see.

“I know you told us to expect this but- it’s more incredible than anything I could have imagined.” Jayelle said, marveling at the sight. 

“Trust me, the show is just barely getting started.” Rey replied.

Right on cue, the Force pulled them all back through the lineup, back to a lifetime Ben and Rey knew well by now. It felt a bit like coming home as they transformed back into Bastila and Revan. 

“Sweetheart…” Revan said taking his wife in his arms and kissing her.

“Always good to be back, my love.” Bastila said after their kiss, looking up at her husband. 

They turned to their left as they sensed a familiar presence. Sure enough Finn and Jannah had transformed into Bress and Reesa.

“Come here you two.” Bastila said waving them over to join their hug. Together the family hugged for a moment as they reconnected for the first time in many months.

Jayelle and Forten stared speechless at the four of them, overcome with awe by what they were seeing. 

Bastila turned to look back at the padwans, not at all surprised by the shock on their faces. 

“It’s like we told you.” She said. “We’re still Ben and Rey in here- but Ben and Rey as we were in another lifetime. In our old forms as Bastila and Revan, we’re able to remember ourselves as we were.”

“You’ll get used to it...” Bress assured them. “…eventually.” 

Before the others had a chance to chime in, the Force took hold of Bress and Reesa as it had before, pulling the pair of siblings forward in front of the mirror that had rematerialized. 

The other four watched spellbound as the mirror reflected their appearances, followed by their children, and the four generations of Shan’s that had come after them.

“All of our descendants…” Bastila said awestruck. “There were so many of them….”

“I doubt we’ll be able to ever remember them all by name....” Revan chuckeld. 

Five generations after Bress and Reesa, the images focused on one Force sensitive woman in particular. The portal began playing the events of her life- her training as a Jedi, how she advanced through the order the older she got. It showed how against everything she’d been taught, she found herself falling madly in love with a man she’d fought alongside in one of the Republic's many wars. The shared trauma of their experiences protecting the galaxy had bonded them together. From that bond had blossomed a beautiful love story. 

Time slowed down as a scene between the two of them played out, taking place in the home they shared together on Coruscant. 

“My love something wonderful has happened.” The woman said, taking her lover's hand and placing it on her belly.

The man stood frozen for a moment, sensing the meaning of her words.

“The Force has given us the gift of life.” She said, her eyes somehow full of both fear and hope.

“That’s… that’s wonderful!” He finally said, taking her in his arms and holding her tight. For a few moments they stood together, unsure what to say next. The woman was the first to voice the truth they knew they’d need to face.

“Where should we go?” She asked looking up at him. 

“Oh Tasiele…” He said, a bit lost. “Wherever you want to go. We’ll hide until the baby is old enough to be raised by the order like you were… That is, if the baby has the Force. Can you tell? 

“She…” Tasiele said, smiling as she looked down at her belly. “And yes, she certainly does.”

The images began to speed up as it showed them leaving Coruscant for Brental IV, hiding together as her pregnancy progressed and their daughter was born. 

“Why is it showing us all of this?” Jayelle asked curiously.

“I’m sure it will get to the reason soon.” Bastila assured her. 

As the baby was born, the images in the portal focused solely on her. Her mother and father had chosen to name her Satele. 

It began to play out Satele’s upbringing and childhood. She’d been raised by the Jedi order after her mother had been sent into exile for her forbidden attachment to her father.

“They exiled her from the order and wouldn’t even let them be together…” Bastila said, the tragedy of it weighing on her heart. 

“Does that surprise you?” Revan asked. 

“Sadly, no…” She replied.

Satele grew into an adult before them, and the events of her lifetime began playing out as her mother’s had before. Just like her mother, she fell for a man she’d met in the heat of battle- Jace Malcom, a soldier for the Republic. 

“I’m seeing a bit of a family tradition here.” Reesa joked. 

“A legacy of hopeless romantics.” Bastila smiled. “The Jedi can’t have been too surprised by that.”

Suddenly everything around Satele and Jace vanished as the two of them appeared to turn and look out of the portal. 

“Do they see us?” Jayelle asked. 

“I’m not sure.” Bastila said. “It hasn’t played out like this before.” 

Together Satele and Jace walked right up to the surface of the portal. Satele held her hand up to touch it. As she did, the barrier between the two worlds began to melt away and disappear. 

Suddenly the couple was standing before them- staring right at Forten and Jayelle. 

The two padawans stood frozen, torn between wonder and shock, as Satele and Jace began to walk towards them. By now the others already sensed what this was about. 

Satele and Jace stopped just inches in front of them, staring back at them as if they’d waited a long time to find themselves here. Moments later the Force merged the two couples. Jayelle and Forten transformed into their past selves as Satele Shan and Jace Malcom. 

Satele looked down at her hands and arms, awestruck by the sensation of being back in her physical body. As she looked up at her partner, she sensed he didn’t have the Force as he had in this lifetime. 

Jace seemed to be equally struck by the lack of the Force he sensed within himself. He turned his hands over as they suddenly felt empty- the energies he was used to sensing no longer ran through them. The same question filled their minds as Satele voiced it to the others. 

“Why wouldn’t Jace have the Force if Forten has it now?” she asked.

“In one of my other lifetimes, as Padme, I didn’t have the Force.” Bastila noted. “The Force appears to come and go with some souls in the process of reincarnation, we’re not yet sure why.”

The issue of Force sensitivity melted away as the two lovers looked upon each other’s faces for the first time in thousands of years. 

“Oh Jace!” Satele said, wraping her arms around him and holding him close.

“It’s been so long…” Jace said, a little surprised by her sudden renewed affection- an affection he gladly welcomed. He wraped his arms around her holding her tightly. “So, so long….” The two stared at each other a moment, then kissed as they became overwhelmed the emotion of seeing each other again. 

Bastila wiped a tear from her cheek as Revan put an arm around her. 

“Family tradition indeed.” Revan whispered to her. Bastila beamed as she glanced back at him for a moment before looking back at the reunion taking place before them.

Suddeny Satele pulled away- her eyes wide with wonder as a lifetime of memories flooded back to her.

“What…. What is it?” Jace asked.

“Everything….” Satele said looking around. “Everything we’ve been learning about on Ahch To as Forten and Jayelle… it all suddenly makes so much sense…” 

Jace looked even more confused than he had before. 

The six of them had their attention pulled away as the portal materialized and shone brightly in front of them again. Events of the lifetime Jace and Satele had shared began to play out, just as it had before. 

Satele and Jace had fallen in love while fighting together on Alderaan, overthrowing the Sith empire there and helping the Organa’s rise to power.

“How all things connect…” Revan said, realizing his new friends had once fought side by side with Ben’s adopted ancestors.

Satele rose quickly through the Jedi order just as her mother had, but sadly never had the chance to meet her. Tasiele had spent the rest of her life in exile thinking of her daughter and her long lost love. She spent the time she had left writing volumes of texts on things she’d learned from the Force- things she knew the Jedi order never would have taught her daughter. Eventually Satele received those texts, along with news that her mother had passed. 

“Aspects of the Force, the Light and the Dark”. They were titled. Satele treasured the texts as they were the only piece of her mother’s life she’d ever been given. She read them front to back, over and over again, making her own notes here and there as she went. 

Tasiele’s studies in exile had brought her to believe Force sensitives could gain strength from attachment. She strongly believed it should be something that should be encouraged, rather than forbidden. Satele treasured every word her mother had passed on to her, but kept the ideals she was learning from the texts hidden. She knew well enough from her mother’s exile how something so controversial could threaten her position in the order. 

Another hard lesson Satele gained from her mother’s exile was to make sure she kept her love with Jace hidden. When she discovered that she too was pregnant, she knew she had no choice but to leave society for a time- by herself- to have her child. She left Jace, without telling him what had happened, only that she could no longer be with him after sensing a growing darkness in his heart. 

Jace was left confused and alone, wondering what had happened to the woman he’d loved with all his heart to make her leave so quickly. The only comfort he’d been able to find for his grief was to return to the life he’d had before he’d met Satele. He’d thrown himself back into his life as a soldier- a choice that tragically lead to his death soon after in the heat of battle. 

Satele privately grieved Jace’s loss as her belly grew daily, torn away from the life they’d once shared on Coruscant. Eventually she brought her son into the world with the help of another Jedi master. No longer having Jace in her life, she was able to return to her previous life afterward without being found out. 

“We… had a son?” Jace said awestruck as he stood next to her in the cave.

Satele nodded as she looked at him- her eyes brimming with tears, full of regret. “Oh Jace… I’m so, so sorry I didn’t tell you. You have to know why I didn’t. Knowing what had happened to my mother, I knew had to make a terrible choice- to lose you, or to lose both of you… Had I known I’d never see you again...” she paused, breaking down into tears as the grief suddenly became too much.

Jace stared at her confused as he struggled with the realization. “But then… you could have told me why you had to leave… I’d have understood...”

Satele fought hard to get the words out between tears. “If I told you… you’d have been even less likely to let me go.”

The two stared at each other for a moment, Jace realizing the truth of her words. He knew as well as she did if he’d known she was leaving to have his child he’d have never let her do so alone. He’d have fought with everything he had for his family, a fight that would have ended exactly the way it did for Satele’s mother. 

Tears continued to stream down their cheeks as the combined tragedy of all they’d lost nearly overwhelmed them. After a few moments it became too much. They fell back into each others arms again as they cried together, hearts both full of joy for the life of their son they’d created while grieving all they’d had taken from them. 

A few feet away Bastila shook her head silently as the sight of their shared grief made an anger rise in her heart. Revan put his arm around her again as he sensed what she was thinking. 

How very familiar it all was…

“Never again.” Bastila finally uttered. “Not in this lifetime, not ever.”

“Never again.” Revan promised looking down at her. 

The number of Force sensitives who’d had their happiness stolen away by dogmatic laws forbidding attachment hit all of them as they watched Jayelle and Forten’s former selves grieving what could have been. The tears that fell represented all the lives like their own that had needlessly ended in tragedy and loneliness- tragedies that could have been avoided had the Jedi understood the true purpose of attachment in the Force.

After a few minutes, the portal began to shine again. It was ready to show them more of the lives they’d once led. 

Jace and Satele wiped their eyes, ready to bravely see what else the Force had to show them. 

As the events began, a new emotion entered their hearts. They both began to feel an enormous sense of pride as they watched their son Theron being raised by the Jedi order. He’d been every bit as talented as his mother, and rose quickly as his skills advanced. The one silver lining in all of it was Satele had been able to keep a close eye on him, still being a part of the Jedi order herself. 

Eventually Satele rose to the highest position in the order. She was named Grand Master of the Jedi and with that position came the opportunity to explore aspects of the Force her mother’s teachings had made her curious about. She’d had to keep those curiosities hidden most of her life, but through her new position of power she was finally able to pursue them as she’d wanted to for so long. 

Her curiosity and thirst for knowledge led her on journeys deep into the Jedi’s earliest history. Eventually she made a breakthrough discovery on the planet Tython. An early order of Force sensitives had once existed there, one that observed both the dark and the light. It was the earliest evidence of an order of Force sensitives that had ever been discovered in the galaxy. 

“Tython!” Bastila gasped as they watched. “We keep hearing in this lifetime that Tython has always been thought of as a myth, but it appears at one time the Jedi had all the evidence they needed to know it was real.”

“Something tells me we’re about to find out where the miscommunication occurred…” Revan sighed. 

Events in the portal began to depict how others in the order received Satele’s discoveries. Sure enough, as her discoveries made waves through the order and the galaxy, many fellow Jedi began to fear what her discoveries might lead to. 

Favor within the order began to turn against her as rumors spread that all she was doing would bring an end to the order as they knew it. Satele did her best to convince those on the council that all she was discovering could teach them about parts of the Force that had long been misunderstood. The more she worked to change hearts and minds, the more her fellow masters in the order pushed back. 

One day things came to a head as another Jedi master came before the council to reveal the truth of her son Theron’s identity. All of her fellow masters learned she’d once had a love affair with a Republic soldier and conceived a son she’d bore in private- 

A son that had been raised by the order while she herself remained a member of it.

Her fellow masters were further stunned to learn she’d not only watched her son grow to maturity, but fought along side him in countless battles. The knowledge that mother and son had been allowed to fight together- an attachment that went against everything the order stood for as it was believed such a thing would endanger their fellow Jedi- was as damning evidence as anyone could have brought against her. 

The council turned against her immediately with the news. Satele was stripped of her position as Grand Master of the Jedi and exiled from the order. All knowledge of her discoveries of Tython were destroyed as the Jedi of her time did all they could to wipe out everything the controversial grand master had sought to create. 

The last scene they were shown was of several Jedi masters standing together around a pile of texts they’d confiscated from Satele’s office. Together they stood in front of the temple as they lit the pile on fire, destroying the final evidence of her discoveries. Among the texts were her mother’s texts- texts she’d worked on her entire life in exile. 

“Those bastards…” Satele uttered standing next to Jace. “All of my mother’s work and they destroyed it... like it was _nothing ___.”

“I’m so, so sorry sweetheart…” Jace said in shock. He wasn’t really sure what else could be said. The knowledge of why she’d left him originally had been hard to process at first, but learning all she’d endured after their life together had ended was even more difficult to come to terms with. 

Finally the scene in the portal went dark and disappeared. The six of them stared into the darkness for a moment as the weight of all they’d just witnessed continued to hang over them. After a few moments, their old forms as members of the Shan family faded and all six transformed back into their current selves. 

“Whew” Finn sighed, the first to make a sound. “That was… that was heavy.”

“No kidding.” Jannah said.

“Are you two alright?” Rey asked looking at their newest padawans. “I’m sorry, I had no idea it would be so intense your first-“

“That was... I’m not even sure what to call it…” Jayelle stammered, not meaning to cut her off. “All that about discovering Tython… A child we had together in a past life..” She looked at Forten for a moment… “Gods it doesn’t even feel real.”

Forten was looking down at his hands, turning them over, feeling the renewed sense of the Force returning to him. “Unreal is right…” He said. 

“Going back and forth between a Force sensitive form and a non force sensitive, it takes a bit to get used to.” Rey spoke up, seeing his reaction. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

Forten chuckled as he finally looked up. “I feel like we’ve heard that a couple times today.”

“Hard to imagine but it’s true.” Ben noted. “All this stuff is pretty intense at first. And damn, the Force didn’t go light on you two your first trip down here…”

“You can say that again…” Jayelle said, looking back toward where the portal had disappeared. After a moment she looked back at them. “Is it always that intense?”

“Definitely not.” Finn assured her. “It can be… Sometimes it’s intense in other ways. Getting thrown into an old old battle by accident was fun the first time it happened.”

Rey smiled. “We’ll make sure not to do that again.”

The six of them stared at each other silently for a moment, processing all they’d just seen. Suddenly the last thing they expected to happen occurred. 

The mirror portal rematerialized in front of them. Seconds later the Force took hold of them again, lining the six of them up as it had before. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Rey utterd, a little miffed at how little of a break it had given them. 

Ben sighed. “It would appear the Force has more to show us today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This chapter was a doozy to write- so much so that I had to split it into two and will be continuing the rest of the cave visions into the next one.
> 
> Sorry it took a bit to write this one! The emotional intensity of the visions combined with the amount of detail in Satele Shan's story made it an absolute beast to take on. 
> 
> To help keep who's who in the story straight, here's a family tree showing the Shan family and how they line up with this story's charecters. 
> 
> Notes on canon-
> 
> As mentioned before, Satele's story is a *monstrously* detailed one. It spans over several games and has a couple alternate paths within some games. For the sake of simplicity and not wanting this chapter to sprawl into ten chapters, I shortened and simplified her and Jace's story. 
> 
> In canon, Jace and Satele split up for a bit then get back together. Their stories along with their son weave in and out, on and on in a level of detail that was not possible to include in this story. 
> 
> Basically they were in love, were apart for a time while she had their son, got back together and fought wars as a family. Eventually Satele was kicked out of the order when all of that got discovered. Also she made a bunch of amazing discoveries that got wiped from Jedi history books when she got kicked out. She was an absolute badass and while her story is long and complex, I absolutely had to include it along with the other Shan's in this story. Especially since it has so much to do with the other amazing stuff Ben and Rey are exploring! 
> 
> The next chapter will be a lot more fun and humorous, as we learn about some other identities our characters have had in the past...
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	86. Across the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The six members of the Order of Skywalker continue to experience visions in the cave. What they see next has them remembering a much more recent past when they knew each other well.
> 
> ***Suggested Listening***  
>    
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83n4pLUhTmk&t=5438s
> 
> A little ambience to add to your reading experience...

The six of them stood waiting for a moment to see what the cave had to show them. The lineup of Ben and Rey’s former lives appeared again, right where they’d left off as Bastila and Revan. The lineup began to speed forward in time until it landed on their most recent lifetime... 

  
Rey felt the Force leave her as they transformed into their former selves as Padme and Anakin.

  


Turning to look at each other, the two lovers embraced for the first time in over a year. It had been a while since Ben and Rey had needed to explore that part of their past together. 

“Oh Ani, it’s so good to be back again.” Padme said as she held her husband tight. 

“We need to remember to come back to these forms more often.” He replied. “Padme just might be the most beautiful of all the forms you’ve taken.”

“You do know you’ve said that with every version of ourselves we’ve transformed into?” Padme smiled, having caught Anakin in one of his classic lines.

“I guess it’s always true… Whoever I’m seeing you as is my favorite at the time.”

“Hard to argue with that logic...” She replied, twisting his blonde curls around one of her fingers and drinking in the brilliance of his blue eyes. 

The two were so focused on each other they didn’t notice their students around them had transformed into different forms of their own- Faces they’d each know well once they had the chance to notice them. 

Where Jannah had once stood, a Togruta female now stood. Her colorful skin tones and white and blue patterned head tails stood out dramatically among the other humans present. Where Finn had stood was an older human male with light skin and long light brown hair.

“Who are you?!” The Torgruta asked.

“I supposed I should ask you the same question.” The man said. “I’m Qui-Gon Jin. And you are?”

“Ashoka Tano.” She said. “Pleased to meet you…” She suddenly noticed the robes he was wearing. “ _Master ___Qui Gon.”

To the right of Ben and Rey a very different reunion was taking place. 

Forten had transformed into a man a decade or so older than himself, wearing masters robes just like Qui-Gon. Jayelle had transformed into a woman around a decade older than herself as well, with blonde hair stylishly crowned in a hairstyle of Mandalorian royalty.

“Satine!” Obi-Wan gasped, stunned to see the face of a woman he’d once loved with everything he had.

“Obi…” She said in shock, another lifetime of memories overwhelming her as they had before. 

Both fell into each other’s arms as they remembered the final moments they’d spent together in life. For a moment they stared at each other, wrestling with a desire both had very much carried through their adult life. Finally realizing they were no longer in those lifetimes, their lips met as they kissed as passionately and as deeply as they would have in life had such an attachment not been forbidden to them. 

After a few moments they pulled away, their hearts filling with joy at the realization of the second, or rather third, chance they’d been given together. Satine looked down as she now sensed an emptiness within her. 

“I suppose I was the one without the force in this lifetime…” She laughed, the realization of multiple lifetimes suddenly becoming overwhelming. 

“Indeed…” Obi- Wan noted. “I sure hope the cave gets to explaining all of this back and forth soon enough…”

Sensing a familiar presence behind him, Obi- Wan remembered they weren’t the only ones there. 

“Anakin?!” He gasped as he saw his former Padawan where Ben had been.

Anakin stared back at him shocked, unsure what to say. For a moment both men stared at each other, frozen by the thought of the terrible last few memories they’d shared together in life. 

Obi-Wan was the first to speak. 

“By all the gods it is good to see you like this again.” He said as he walked forward to hug him, grateful for a chance to embrace him as an old friend. 

Anakin choked back tears for a moment as his master’s forgiveness nearly overwhelmed him. “I’m so sorry… for everything…” He did his best to say. 

Artist Credit: Spooky Rumba.

“There’s no need for that.” Obi-wan assured him. “I don’t know what Palaptine did to you to… whatever it was, I’m just sorry I didn’t see it coming sooner.” Looking back at the two women standing with them a thought struck him. “It’s clear we were both involved in something much larger than ourselves that neither of us understood... Perhaps if we’d both been able to be honest with each other, things would have gone a little differently.”

“Padme?!” Satine said. 

“Satine!” Padme exclaimed, instantly recognizing the face of an old friend

Both women hugged, grateful to be seeing each other again. After a few moments they pulled away. Their eyes were drawn to the men they loved just a few steps away, reconnecting after a lifetime of decisions both had come to regret… Men they both clearly cared about very much.

Satine was the first to voice it. “We both knew didn’t we…” She said, seeing the love in Padme’s eyes as she looked at Anakin. 

“I think the bigger question… Is how did we all go on so long acting like it was possible to not see it?” Padme said as the truth of their past lives hit her.

“If we could answer that question, I’m sure we could solve all the galaxy’s problems in a day or so.” Satine replied.

The combined joy and heaviness of their reunion faded to pure joy as Padme and Saine both spotted another dearly missed face. 

“Qui Gon?!” They said simultaneously, recognizing their old friend. 

“Your majesty, duchess…” Qui Gon was stunned to see them, especially since they’d just been embracing older versions of the young padawans he’d left behind. “It’s a pleasure to see both of you again… It appears we all have a good bit of catching up to do.”

“That we do.” Padme smiled. 

Hearing the master’s familiar voice, Anakin and Obi-wan were pulled from their reunion. 

“Master…” Obi Wan said stunned. “I can’t believe it…”

“Snips?!” Anakin said as he spotted Ashoka. “Is that really you?!”

“As far as I can tell…” Ashoka said, looking down at her renewed form. “This reincarnation stuff is something else…”

“How do you mean?” Anakin asked.

Ashoka smirked at him knowingly. “We’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do as well…”

The emotion of the moment overwhelmed all six of them as they realized how much they’d all meant to each other in their most recent lifetime together. Hugs were shared and tears were shed as they reconnected with versions of themselves they hadn’t realized they’d missed so much. 

After a few minutes the new dynamics in their current lifetime struck Obi-Wan

“So let me get this straight…” He spoke up, grabbing the group’s attention. “Anakin, _you ___are all of _our ___master in this lifetime?” He paused for a moment as the irony hit all of them. “Oh… this is going to be good…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anakin asked.

“It would appear fate has rewarded you with the joy of being in charge this time- of making all the decisions. That’s a change I’ll happily welcome.” Qui-Gon laughed. “Charging first into battle didn’t go too well for me last time.”

“Wait, when do I get to be in charge? I’m still just a student.” Ashoka protested.

“Technically you are Obi-Wan’s master in this lifetime.” Anakin noted, thinking about all that meant. “If it had been that way around in our time, things probably would have gone a whole lot better.”

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows while nodding in agreement.

Ashoka broke into the biggest smile at the recognition. “Oh Sky guy it’s so good to have you back. I have to say, I’m really glad you lost the helmet. It didn’t suit you.”

“Ironically that’s not the first time I’ve heard that in this lifetime.” Anakin sighed.

“Who else could have made that joke?” Ashoka asked.

“Poe… When he first met me as Ben. He’d had a bad run in with me as Kylo.”

“You do have a bit of a pattern there…” Ashoka noted.

Anakin thought about it for a moment… this lifetime as Ben, past lifetimes as others… When he was in this form, he only seemed to remember events that had happened to himself as Anakin in the realm of the living.

“Master Qui-Gon… what’s the last thing you remember?” He asked.

Qui gon searched his memory as best he could. Things were a bit fuzzy, but his last memory was clear. “Last I remember I was stabbed by that Dathomirian Sith Lord on Naboo… Obi Wan defeated him soon after and I told him to train you right before leaving this world.”

“Dathomirian…” Ashoka spoke up. “You mean Maul?”

Qui-Gon looked at her surprised. “How would you know of him?”

She looked towards Obi-Wan, unsure where to begin. 

“Let’s just say that wasn’t the end of it…” Obi-Wan said heavily, taking Satine’s hand.

“Siths have a way of not dying, it would seem.” Ashoka added.

“So wait…” Anakin spoke up again, looking towards Qui-Gon. “You’re saying you don’t remember coming to me as a force ghost on Mortis? Nothing at all from the afterlife?” 

Qui gon shook his head, a bit mystified by it. “I don’t recollect that or anything else other than my memories from life. Knowing when I died and when I returned as Finn I must have spent a great deal of time in the afterlife but… for some reason I don’t remember any of it.”

“It’s just as I thought…” Anakin said. “For some reason when our forms return to the world of the living our memories are wiped of anything we experienced in the afterlife.”

“Good observation Anakin.” Obi Wan noted, a smirk coming over him. “You _are ___learning how to pay attention to detail after all this time.”

Padme couldn’t help but laugh.

“And what is so funny about that sweetheart?” Anakin asked smiling

“All of you. You’re all back here- in a new lifetime- cleaning up the mess that was left behind last time. It’s just… it’s fitting.” 

“Fitting... how?” Being called out somehow only made him smile more. He'd missed his wife's wit so much when he'd lost her.

“Well… for one it appears Satine and I have our Force abilities returned to us in this lifetime as Rey and Jayelle. That means we both get to keep a closer eye on you.”

“Our Force abilities…” Satine said, looking at her hands that felt oddly empty. “I had been wondering about that.”

As if on cue, the mirror portal behind them appeared and began to shine brightly again. The Force took hold of the six of them and lined them up as it had before.

“I don’t suppose I’ll ever get used to that… in this form or any other.” Obi-Wan noted. 

“I believe that’s the Force’s way of telling us to pay attention.” Anakin said under his breath.

“Fair point.” Obi Wan replied. 

  


As the scene in the portal began to focus, the six of them transformed back into their current selves. 

They all looked down, feeling the sensation of being back in bodies they knew well.

  


Their attention was pulled away again as the portal went pure white, showing a view into a realm none of them had seen before. Figures of every known species in the galaxy could be seen drifting back and forth, living happily and peacefully together in a realm that was more beautiful than any of them had ever seen. Many figures had a blue glow around them, clearly signifying they were Force sensitive.

“The afterlife…” Rey was the first to voice it. They all sensed it to be true. The portal was giving them a view into a part of the universe none in the world of the living had ever seen before. 

The scene centered on two figures they all recognized from their earlier visions. Jace and Satele appeared together, having a conversation that appeared to be profoundly emotional. They’d spent many years in the afterlife together, and were ready to return to the world of the living. 

“Before we return, there’s something I want you to have.” Satele said. She put her hands on Jace’s shoulders and closed her eyes 

The blue aura around Satele faded as Jace began to glow. She was transferring her Force powers to him. When the transfer was complete, he could sense the immense gift he’d just been given. 

“Your abilities in the Force…” he said looking at his hands in wonder. A power now coursed through them unlike anything he’d ever felt. “Satele this is too great a gift… I couldn’t possibly…”

She stopped him before he could continue. “The Force is mine to give, just like my heart. I’ve shared one with you already, but I wasn’t able to give it as freely as I wanted to. Now I want to share the Force with you, so you can know what that’s like.”

Jace looked incredibly humbled as he realized what she was saying. “I just hope I can be worthy of it... I’ll do all that I can to see that I earn it.”

Satele smiled at him lovingly, reaching up and touching his face one last time before they returned to the world of the living. “You already have.” She assured him.

Seconds later Satele and Jace disappeared as their souls began the journey back into living beings. 

“So when Obi-Wan had the Force, it’s because I gave it to him?” Jayelle asked.

“It would appear that way.” Rey answered. “Obi-Wan didn’t just have power, he had her power, _your ___power… the power of the woman he loved.”

Jayelle and Forten stared at eachother in awe for a moment. It was yet another realization of just how much their souls had shared in past lifetimes.

“But then… how do we both have it now?” Forten asked. 

“Something tells me we’re about to find out.” Ben added, nodding toward the scenes that had begun to play out. 

The six watched together as the portal showed Obi-Wan and Satine being born and growing up. It showed how they’d met when Obi-Wan and Qui-gon were sent to protect Satine during the Mandalorian civil war. It showed how, against their better judgment Satine and Obi-Wan couldn’t help but develop deep, powerful feelings for each other- feelings that stayed with both of them throughout their adult lives. 

The events went on to show them at various points in their life meeting the other friends they’d just reconnected with. Each of them were awestruck by how their previous friendships had resembled those they shared in this life, with different dynamics of course. Between these lifetimes and others they’d lived, they all began to realize why the connections they’d developed during their time studying the Force together were so strong. 

Towards the end of the Clone Wars, the scenes they’d been watching suddenly went dark as the view appeared to fly through space, to what felt like several years ahead in the future.

“I appreciate that.” Ben said under his breath, having been spared seeing his former self’s fall to the dark side. 

“Maybe it’s figured out you’ve been through enough of that…” Rey sighed. 

“Perhaaaaps… it’s not all about you two this time.” Finn mumbled dryly.

“Damn, bro…” Jannah burst out laughing. 

Ben and Rey couldn’t help but smile at each other sheepishly. He’d made a fair point.

Suddenly the portal went white again, showing a view into the afterlife.

As the scene focused they could all see Obi-wan and Satine standing together, just as Jace and Satele had earlier. They too were saying their final goodbyes to each other before being reborn into the world of the living.

Obi-Wan spoke up about something he’d been meaning to do for a long time. “My love there’s something I must return to you, it’s too great a gift. I held on to it all this time to keep an eye on Luke but, I couldn’t possibly carry it for another lifetime.”

“Sweetheart, it was a gift freely given…” Satine began to say.

“And now I’m giving it back.” Obi-Wan insisted. “I can sense some part of you misses it dearly. Giving me the Force gave me the ability to read those things as well.”

Satine hesitated for a second, but knew better than to argue. She knew the truth of his words as well as he did and knew there was no sense in denying it.

“I supposed refusing a gift I’d given in the first place would be terribly ungrateful of me.” She finally smiled. 

“Indeed it would.” Obi-Wan replied, placing his hands on her shoulders as she’d once done. 

This time as the Force transferred between them, they transformed into their previous selves. Jace and Satele now stood where Obi-Wan and Satine had been just moments before.

“That was unexpected...” Jace said, looking down at hands that now felt strangely empty.

A familiar presence caught Satele’s attention as it approached- her mother Tasiele who she’d reconnected with once they’d both made it to the afterlife. 

“Momma!” she said hugging her. “Oh momma, I’m so glad I got to see you one last time before I go back.”

“My sweet girl…” Tasiele said hugging her daughter tightly. “You know I couldn’t sense you reappearing without seeing you one more time. There’s something I need to give you two as well.”

Satele pulled away, confused by what her mother meant. 

“But you know I can’t take anything as I cross over…”

“Not you sweetheart, him.” She said nodding towards Jace. 

Jace realized what she meant. “Tasiele, I couldn’t possibly…” 

“This isn’t a question Jace.” She said firmly. “When I saw Satele share her gift with you in your last lifetime together, I knew I’d want to do this eventually. It’s the least I can do. You were the only person in the galaxy who was there for my daughter when I wasn’t able to be.” Tasiele put her hands on his shoulders as she prepared herself to transfer her powers in the Force to him. “For being everything my daughter ever needed in a partner, in this life and others….” 

Jace began to glow again as Tasiele’s powers flowed through him. Once the transfer was complete, she stepped back to face both of them. 

“Now you both can enter the world with a bond forged by the Force- your abilities will be made more powerful by each other’s presence. It’s a truth I suspected in exile... I’m curious to see how it plays out for you two.”

“Oh momma…” Satele said, throwing her arms around her mother’s neck. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart.” Tasiele hugged her daughter one last time. Finally, she was ready to let go. 

“Now go you two…” She said, pulling away. “Go see what this next life has in store. May you find each other quickly, and may the Force be with you.”

“May the Force be with you.” They both nodded before disappearing.

The scene faded and two final memories played out before the visions were over. Jayelle and Forten both saw their mother’s holding them moments after their birth.

“My beautiful Oola” Jayelle’s mother said to her, kissing her newborn daughter on the forehead. 

“My sweet little Eren.” Forten’s mother said, rocking her newborn son.

The touching scenes in the portal faded just as quickly as they began. The six of them found themselves staring into nothing but darkness and rock as the cave rematerialized around them.

“Gods above…” Jayelle muttered as the silence of the cave hung over them. 

“I suppose it let you two find out your real names after all.” Rey said, wiping a tear from her cheek. 

“So when people refer to the Force as a gift…” The irony struck Ben. “Sometimes it truly is a gift.”

“And the abilities of the man you were named after were really a gift from someone else.” Rey noted.

“I think we’re going to need to write all that down.” Forten said a bit overwhelmed by all he’d seen. “Something tells me it’s not going to be easy to keep this all straight.”

“We’ve all got stacks of journals on what we’ve seen so far.” Jannah said. “Now you two get the joy of starting your own.”

*****

As the six walked back up the island together towards the village, an ease had come into the group’s dynamics that hadn’t been there before. Wheras the women had made most of the conversation on the walk down, the men were now just as talkative if not more so. 

A familiarty now existed between them- one they realized had been there all along, they’d just needed to be reminded of it. Together they all talked back and forth, remembering remarks each had shared as their past selves, doing their best to remember what it all had meant. 

Some remarks were easier than others to figure out of course. 

“So… since some of us were masters in a past life, does that mean we ever get to lead lessons?” Forten asked.

Ben and Rey looked at each other, unsure what to say for a moment. “I guess… if there’s something you discovered that you wanted to share with all of us, sure.” Ben finally said. 

“Was there something specific you were thinking of that you wanted to share?” Rey asked.

“Oh gods no of course not…” Forten replied. “I just wanted to see how you two would answer that.”

The others laughed. Rey and Ben quickly realized that had been their first test from their students, and they’d both passed with flying colors.

*****

Later that night as Ben and Rey got ready for bed, Ben could tell something was on Rey’s mind that had been there ever since they’d left the cave.

“You’re thinking about Exegol.” He said, catching her a bit off guard. “Why?”

Rey sighed. She knew by now she should be used to Ben seeing right through her. “Something about all we saw today doesn’t add up.”

“How’s that?”

“Well- when I was facing Palpatine and I called on all the souls of past Jedi, I heard voices of all five of us from our past lives. Qui-gon, Ashoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan- I didn’t know them then but I recognize them all now. They were all there speaking to me, but all of you were in your own bodies alive at the time. How does that make any sense?”

Ben exhaled heavily as he searched his memory, trying to remember all that had happened on Exegol. “That was when I was down in the pit…”

“That’s right, you weren’t there for that part. Do you remember hearing any of it from down there?”

“No… one minute I was falling to what I thought was my death. The next I woke up with a stabbing pain in my side on a ledge near the surface and everything had gone quiet. I climbed back up to you and well, you know the rest.”

Rey thought about it for a moment. “We should go back at some point… re-watch what happened and see if you falling into the pit had anything to do with it.”

Ben smiled. “You don’t like letting mysteries of the Force stay mysteries do you?”

“I thought you’d have figured that out by now.” She said coyly. 

“Trust me I have. And that’s a good thing. At least one of us is determined to figure out how all this works.”

“You’re not determined to figure it all out?”

“As much as we need to- in order to set things right- yes. Some things are fun to leave as mysteries though.”

Rey sighed at the ease with which he just accepted things. “I wish I had your free spirit.”

“If we were both like me who knows where we’d have ended up.”

“Fair point.” She laughed. “One has to take direction while the other dreams of all the possibilities ahead.”

He smiled as he kissed her on the forehead, ready to curl up in bed together after another long day. “Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case this hasn’t been made clear yet, “No One’s Ever Really Gone” doesn’t just refer to Ben. It refers to all the romances of all the Star Wars characters we love that we feel like we didn’t get enough of. 
> 
> Bastila and Revan. 
> 
> Padme and Anakin. 
> 
> Satine and Obi Wan. 
> 
> Hell Jyn and Cassian are actually back to life among all of it!
> 
> Could that mean one of them has some unfinished business to get to??? We shall see….
> 
> Yep, I’m fixing all the tragedy and lost love in Star Wars in ONE giant fix it fic. 
> 
> You’re all welcome. *Drops mic*
> 
> *Awkwardly picks mic back up.* Almost forgot, I'd better share some things on this canon-heavy chapter.
> 
> Notes on Canon:
> 
> Instead of explaining it all, here's some fun links for these characters in case you want to explore the relationships they had more.
> 
> Obi-Wan and Satine- https://aminoapps.com/c/star-wars/page/item/obitine-obi-wan-kenobi-x-satine-kryze/DNFN_ILDL5LVQlD0r7dZmJ5DKbBXYe
> 
> Ashoka's reincarnation through the World Between Worlds- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PmgmkUBoGs
> 
> Qui-Gon appearing to both Obi-Wan and Anakin on Mortis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q_Jv0c1rz0
> 
> All the hell Darth Maul gave these poor souls and the galaxy as he refused to die- https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Maul
> 
> *Bonus* I hope you guys like that "He didn't just have power, he had _her ___power." moment. The line poor Kylo had to deliver to attribute Rey's abilities to her male lineage irks me like few things in canon ever have. I figured some balance was needed.💫


	87. Sharing Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey has a girls night with the other ladies of Ahch To. Later she and Ben train together on the back of the island.
> 
> Here's a manip I did of Rey and Ben's training session, right after Rey shares a story she's been holding back for a while.

A few days after their revelations in the cave with their new students, Rey and the other women were enjoying a girl’s night up at Zorii’s place. Zorii was just starting to feel huge and getting around the island had become difficult. Her friends wanted to make sure they kept her spirits up as she settled in for the final stretch of pregnancy.

The men were over the ridge at Forten and Jayelle’s hut, watching the toddlers while enjoying trying the first batch of beer Forten had brewed since coming to the island. Fermentation was one of many primitive life skills he’d honed during his life on Kef Bir- skills which came in handy in the remote existence they all led on Ahch To. 

Jayelle had brought a canteen with her as well for those who were able to try it out. Zorii of course couldn’t partake and Rose had opted out as well, claiming something from lunch hadn’t agreed with her. The three Force sensitive women knew better than to question it.

“What is it he uses to make this? Hops and grains and what else?” Rey asked Jayelle, marveling at the balance of flavors within the brew.

“Those are the base of it, yes… There’s a variety of types he uses for the more interesting styles, and of course different herbs added later for flavor, but those are the building blocks of any recipe.”

“We’ll have to make sure he gets more of whatever he needs added to the regular shipments.” Rey said, pouring herself a second glass. “This is amazing.” 

“His recipes have improved since Kef Bir, that’s for sure.” Jannah noted. 

“The ingredients were rather limited on Kef Bir.” Jayelle sighed.

“Don’t remind me. Grass for dinner. Grass to drink. We were lucky we had a whole space station to scavenge or we’d have been wearing grass as well.”

Rey suddenly remembered something she’d been meaning to ask Rose about, and went to join her friend on the couch. “Speaking of new hobbies what have you been up to lately? I heard something about lots of going back and forth with members of the Senate?”

“Yes!” Rose lit up. “With Poe’s connections, Zorii and Jyn have helped me organize getting some much needed reforms introduced.”

“What types of reforms?” Jannah asked, joining them from the kitchen.

Rose proudly elaborated. “Child labor laws, welfare reforms- things we used to have in the days of the Republic that not so mysteriously vanished under Imperial and First Order rule. Laws enforcing social justice disappeared left and right all around the galaxy under the Empire and again with the First Order. We’re making sure those principles aren’t forgotten while systems exercise their new freedom.”

“Rose, that’s fantastic!” Rey said. “How soon do you think they’ll be enacted?”

“It will take time but… I think we’re on the right track so far.”

“Right track-“ Zorii chuckled. “Give yourself more credit. More like charging into battle. You should heave heard her in here the other day talking to senators. I always had a hard time picturing our cheerful, happy Rose in a military, fighting a war. Seeing how she put them in line and reminded them of their responsibilities- it’s not so hard to imagine anymore.”

Rose beamed at the affirmation. “I did put a thing or two into perspective for them didn’t I?”

“I’ll say...” Zorii laughed. Spotting that Rey was on her second glass of beer, she figured it was time to ask how another new development had been going. “While we’re on the topic of new hobbies… have you and Ben enjoyed all the goodies we brought back for you?”

Rey blushed for a moment as she swallowed another sip. “You could say that…”

The group stared back at her blankly. 

“Well you can do more than just say it, we want to know if you’ve enjoyed it as much as we’d hoped.” Jannah smirked.

Rey suddenly realized Zorii hadn’t been the only one aware of what had been included. 

“I take it the whole group picked those out together?” She asked, suddenly feeling a bit tipsy. 

“You don’t think we let Zorii have all the fun did you?” Rose teased. 

“It was a community effort.” Jannah added. 

“Perhaps I should have joined the group on that trip back to the capital…” Jyn smiled. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll fix you up the next time we go.” Zorii assured her. “With what all Rose has been up to I’m sure someone will have a reason to go back soon.” 

“Alright, we have to know…” Jannah spoke up again. “What was your favorite?”

Rey looked around the room as she tried to think which of the gifts she received could possibly have been her favorite. She figured she might as well just get it all out. The beer she’d had gave her the boost of confidence needed to share just how much she’d enjoyed it all. 

“For starters, that sensitivity gel should have come with a warning label… poor Ben put way too much on the first night… the ocean breeze coming in from the deck was about all that was needed to send me right over the edge... You should have seen the look on his face...”

The others nearly chocked on their drinks with laughter.

“Gods no, Rey, you let _him ___do it?” Jannah asked shocked.

“I didn’t know any better! You should have seen how exited he was with all of it- it was like he’d never seen anything so amazing in all his life.”

“That sounds about right.” Zorii smiled. “I remember the first time I came home with a toy or two from a sex shop when Poe and I were first together- we must have been what, 18, 19? Every night it was _‘Soo… can we… can I… try that thing again.’ ___like it was his new religion. It’s amazing I ever got him to go outside again.”

“You two did get together early...” Rey noted. “Gods I don’t even want to think about what Ben would have been like if we’d discovered sex toys at 18…”

“Hold that thought- I need a refill but I’ll be right back.” Jayelle said getting up and heading to the kitchen.

Rey thought for a moment how different her and Ben’s life would have been had they met earlier… As she looked around the room, she couldn’t help but think about how different each of her friend’s love stories had been. 

She’d once found herself unable to avoid feeling jealous of Finn and Rose- of how easy being together had come to them. Fate had placed them on the same side of things and falling in love had come as naturally as breathing for them. 

As she thought about Jayelle and Jyn’s stories however, she realized being on the same side of things didn’t always make love simple. For Jyn and Cassian, fighting for the same thing had been exactly what had got in the way. A sense of duty had kept them apart, until they thought it was too late and thought they’d wasted their chance. Thankfully she and Ben had been able to give them the second chance they’d deserved- and the two of them had done their best to make the most of it in the time since. 

For Jayelle and Forten, what had brought them together was the greatest nightmare either had ever experienced. Being raised as numbers by a tyrannical war machine, mutinying and having to fend for survival on a remote planet- Being on the same side of things wasn’t enviable in any way in their case. Their love for each other had been the one good thing to come out of the horror that was their early years together.

Even Finn and Rose who’d seemed to have things easier than she and Ben early on- as Rey thought about it, what had brought them to the places they were in life had been anything but easy.

Rose seeing her home world striped bare to feed the First Order war machine, running away with her sister to join the Resistance after witnessing everyone and everything they ever knew consumed by the fiery hell of bombing runs… 

Finn being ripped away from his family as a baby and raised as a pawn by the same terrible regime, then defecting after watching an entire village of innocent people slaughtered right in front of him… 

Neither of their paths had been easy… that much was sure. 

The closer Rey grew to the people in her life, the more she realized envying someone’s lot in life only put off recognizing truths that became all too clear eventually. No one’s story was ever “easier” than anyone else’s. Everyone faced their share of struggles in finding where and with who they were meant to be in life. 

“What are you thinking about?” Jayelle asked as she sat next to Rey, having sensed her thoughts had been all over the place just moments before. 

“Nothing in particular… Just how different paths can be in life, and yet how very similar they can be as well.”

“Did your cave trip this week have anything to do with that realization?” Zorii asked.

“I guess in a way… yes.” 

“It must be incredible…” Rose spoke up. “Everything Finn’s told me about what you guys get to see sounds more and more amazing each time you go down there!”

“That being our first time down was definitely something.” Jayelle replied.

“At least you had someone to warn you of what was coming.” Jyn smiled. “Not that I’m complaining of course! But- whatever we went through to get there... safe to say I still don’t think I’ve recovered from it.” 

“I can’t even imagine…” Rey said, trying to comprehend what that must have been like for them.

“So do any of the rest of us non-Force sensitives get to go down there or is Jyn the only one? Zorii asked. 

“You really want to?” Rey was surprised as she noticed the excitement in Zorii and Rose’s faces at the idea.

“Go see a magical world filled with time travel and past lives?! Who wouldn’t be up for that?” Zorii laughed. 

“Absolutely!” Rose exclaimed. “Why should I let Finn have all the fun?”

“I suppose I could go check it out again.” Jyn said contemplating the idea. “It can’t be anymore of a shock than what I’ve already been through down there.”

Rey was thrilled as she realized the three of them were serious. “Oh I’d love to bring you girls down there! Really! I’d have asked you much sooner if I’d known… I always get the feeling it sounds a bit nuts what we do down there.”

Zorii rolled her eyes as she realized what she meant. “Don’t listen to Poe. He’s a typical man. He has a hard time believing in anything other than what he is sure is within his own infinite knowledge on the universe.” 

“If that doesn’t sum it up perfectly...” Rose laughed.

“Let’s plan for it.” Rey said. “In a few days I’ll take you three down there with me.”

“Speaking of Poe…” Zorii re-situated in her seat as a cramp got the better of her. “I doubt he’ll be keen on me going down there in this state.” 

“I’ll do my best to convince him.” Rey assured her. “I went down there a few times when I was pregnant. It’s perfectly safe when you’ve got someone who can use the Force to bring you down. Now that I think about it… one of my very favorite trips down there was when I was pregnant.” 

“ _Favorite ___trip?” Jannah asked. “What about it made it your favorite?”

Rey smiled a little bigger than she normally would have at the thought. 

“Let’s just say that trip was more about pleasure than work.” She sighed.

The other women all looked at her wide eyed- especially the three who’d been down there and seen the full extent of the cave’s power. 

“No way…” Jannah said, surprised by the admission. “You’re telling me you and Ben actually fucked in the cave?” 

Rey blushed a bit as she broke into slightly drunken giggles. “Guess I did let that slip didn’t I?”

“Don’t think you’re getting away with it that easily, now we have to know what happened.” Zorii said, settling in for a good story. She nodded at Jayelle to alert her to Rey’s empty glass, which Jayelle made sure to fix immediately.

Rey sighed, realizing she’d totally brought this upon her self. Thankfully for her sake her newfound favorite beverage had put her in a bit of a storytelling mood.

“It was right after Ben and I had come from a pretty intense training session. We’d been working on harnessing anger- a heated activity for any marriage as I’m sure you all can imagine.”

“You were harnessing anger… _on purpose ___?” Zorii asked. “And I thought marriage without the Force could get complicated…”

“Yes, well the exercise got so heated I destroyed the mosaic up there. That’s why we had to redo it….”

“I’d been wondering about that.” Rose smiled.

“That was all me.” Rey admitted. “So of course we headed right down to the beach to pick up some rocks for the new one we made. That’s when we discovered, well, all of you know about the beach above the cave by now. We hadn’t thought about what part of the island we were on and we weren’t shielding our minds to the cave’s effects. It just crept up on us. I think most of you have experienced it’s wonders by now…”

“Oh yes, we have.” Zorii smiled. 

“Quite the right of passage…” Jyn chuckled, remembering her and Cassian’s first walk on that particular beach. 

“So one thing led to another and Ben and I decided to head right down to the cave. I’m sure you can all imagine where things went from there.”

Jannah looked at her skeptically for a moment. “Something tells me there’s a bit more to it than that.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Jannah.” Rey said, taking another sip as she did her best to play dumb.

Jannah and Jayelle looked at each other, both sensing the same thing. “There is more too it… isn’t there?” Jayelle asked.

Rey sighed. By now her students were trained well enough to tell when someone was holding back, and the effects of the beer she was drinking had somehow made her completely unable to shield her mind. 

“I guess I might as well come out and be honest…”

“Finally, the good part….” Zorii smiled.

Rey blushed again as she tried to think of how to describe it. “Ben and I… we have this ability where, if we’re connected to a vergence in the Force, we can create places or events we’ve imagined in our minds, actually make them real around us.”

“Create?” Jannah asked. “As in make something new, not visit past events?”

“Yes.” Rey confirmed. “As you know the cave is as powerful a vergence as there is so… well, while we were down there, Ben was thinking of a fantasy he’d had about me several times before we ever actually got together. I sensed what he was thinking and… we ended up going there together.”

The rest of the group stared back at her stunned. “You’re telling us you actually went inside a fantasy together, you actually made it real….” Jannah asked, eager to hear more

“Yes, that’s the gist of it.”

“Is this power something any two Force users can do or is it just a dyad thing?” Jayelle asked hopefully.

“I mean- we don’t really know. It’s not something that’s discussed much in the ancient texts.” Rey said. 

“I imagine not.” Zorii scoffed. “Jayelle, sounds like you’ve got some homework. Feel free to report back on whatever you find. Hopefully you’ll be willing to go into more detail than Rey here.”

“I think I’ve shared plenty of detail!” Rey protested.

“I mean… I’m sure we’d all love to hear where Ben decided to take you if we’re honest.” Jyn smirked. 

Rey gulped, realizing she’d made this bed and would absolutely have to lay in it. “It’s kind of funny actually… keep in mind this was something he used to think about…” She had a hard time saying it as she came to it.

“As Kylo, it’s alright, we understand.” Rose said, saving her friend from using her husband’s old name.

“Exactly, well… apparently he used to hate command meeting so much, he’d have to think of me to get through them.”

“That’s… oddly sweet.” Jannah said.

“You could call it that…” Rey went on “It’s what he though about that’s where it gets interesting.”

“Well, he’s a man, we get that much.” Zorii said. “So where did this fantasy end up taking place? That’s what we’re dying to hear.”

Rey took a deep breath as she readied herself to admit it. She squeezed her eyes shut as she said it, afraid to see the other’s reactions right away. 

“It was in the high command meeting room… he’d think about… what we’d do together before a meeting while he made everyone wait outside.”

As she opened her eyes her friend’s mouths hung open in shock. They weren’t sure what they’d expected, but they’d never expected that.

“Well that’s… pretty damn fantastic!” Jannah finally said breaking into laughter. 

“Oh my god, Rey, really?!” Rose squeeled.

“Aaaannnnd you went along with it, right?!” Zorii pressed. 

Finally Rey hit her breaking point. “I mean, honestly, would any of you not have gone along with that?! To find out the love of your life has been fantasizing about you like that for years, even I have to admit that’s pretty incredible, regardless of the circumstances.”

“I think it’s the circumstances that make it exceptionally incredible.” Zorii grinned.

“No kidding!” Jannah continued laughing. “Supreme leader of the First Order couldn’t even make it through a command meeting without dreaming about who he’d rather be shagging at the time! Gods, Rey I hope you have more stories like this because this is my new favorite thing.”

“I think I’m good with just this one for now...” Rey said, taking another sip of her drink.

“But so… you actually did go along with it then?” Jyn asked, unable to hold back from asking.

“Oh yes… I did.” Rey admitted. 

“And from what you’ve said about it being your favorite- you had a damn good time I take it?” Zorii asked.

“Oh, I had a _marvelous ___time.” Rey finally smiled contentedly.

“Was that General Hux by chance one of the ones he made wait?” Rose asked, a mischievous smile coming over her.

“From what I sensed of those on the other side of the door, and from what I sensed from Ben, that man’s apparent seething anger over the whole thing appeared to be a good part of his enjoyment of it. Him and Pryde.”

“So those waiting outside knew what was going on?” Zorii asked, not about to let Rey leave out any details.

“I mean the doors weren’t that thick... it would have been hard for them not to.”

“Go on…” By now Zorii was grinning from ear to ear, getting exactly the results she’d hoped for. 

Rey sighed again heavily, unable to hold back a smile as she said it. “Let’s just say Ben did all he could to make sure _everyone ___on that ship heard what was going on.”

“No, stop!” Jannah said, barely able to catch her breath. By this point both she and Jayelle were overcome with laughter. “Hux was outside waiting, and Pryde too?! And hearing everything- I can just see the two of them dying inside the whole time! Gods above…”

“You can’t mean it… this can’t be real…” Jayelle said trying her best to control herself. 

“Ben’s gonna kill me if he ever finds out I told you this.” Rey said unable to stop grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh don’t worry, he’ll never hear a _word ___from us.” Zorii assured her. “As long as you tell us more of course.”

“I’m not sure what else there is to tell…” Rey said. 

“Well…” A devilish smile came over Zorii. Tonight was her night and she was going to have as much fun with it as she could. “How was Mr. Solo during this whole encounter? Was he… Romantic? Commanding? Give us… an idea of the mood.”

“Oh, he was _commanding ___alright…” Rey sighed.

Jannah nearly doubled over with laughter. “STOP it, I can’t-” She said wiping tears from her cheeks. “Rey, this is- you have no idea how much this made my night.”

“I think we all have a bit of an idea.” Jyn smiled.

“It’s just…” Jannah wasn’t done yet. “My god brother, our dear precious Ben, having his way with Rey on a command table while those assholes Hux and Pryde waited outside… it’s the best damn thing I’ve ever heard…” she said clasping into another fit of giggles. 

“It _is ___pretty amazing.” Jayelle said wiping a few tears of laughter from her own eyes.

Rey suddenly realized what she’d done for the two of them. They’d only ever known Hux and Pryde as figures of terror, and now they were hearing their own friend’s sexual escapades had been a source of misery for both of them. Even if it was just a fantasy, it was… oddly empowering in a way.

“Well as happy as I’ve made you two tonight, if I do think of any more stories about First Order fantasies to share I’ll make sure to share them.” Rey finally said smiling. 

“Please do!” Jannah said, catching her breath as she quieted down. “Gods that was one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard…”

“Now that we’ve got through that I have to ask… dyads and sex, making your own fantasies, is that it?” Zorii asked.

“Is what it?” Rey was confused by what she meant. 

“Is that all there is to dyad sex that’s unusual or is there more?” 

“There’s a few more things… We levitate when we’re in our physical bodies for one thing.”

“In your physical bodies… as opposed to…”

“As opposed to in fantasies or visions. In those we don’t levitate. But in the real world, we can’t keep ourselves on the ground during sex.”

“Damn.” Zorii smiled. “I guess that makes sense. Even for us non force sensitives if the sex is good enough sometimes you still feel like your levitating.”

The others nodded and smiled in agreement. Suddenly Rey realized that might be all there was to their levitation. What they were feeling manifesting physically… their powers in visions were already drained from creating the vision, but at full power they had all they needed for their bodies to do just what they were feeling. 

“You guys just helped me figure something out I think…” Rey says

“How so?” Rose asked.

“Just… complicated Force stuff. The Force may have us physically experiencing what we’re feeling when we levitate.” 

“So Ben really knows what he’s doing?” Zorii asked, her eyes narrowing on Rey

“What?”

“If you levitate every time the man clearly knows what he’s doing.” 

“Well, I mean… if it’s just a quick one in the kitchen while the girls nap it might not happen but when we really have time to enjoy it, to really get into it, yeah.”

“Mom life…” Rose sighed. “I know exactly what you mean.”

As Rey looked into her half empty glass, she realized she’d better slow down. 

Something about the fabulous brew she held had made her reveal quite a bit more than she normally would have...

A part of her had to admit she didn’t mind it too much. In a way was glad she’d finally opened up about these things to her friends. As much joy as it had brought the group to share, it had also made Rey feel… a little closer to them. Her life with Ben had led her to discover parts of herself she’d never imagined existing, and now she realized she had friends she could talk about these things with.

As she remembered what they’d been talking about earlier that had led to this conversation, she couldn’t wait to get down to the cave- to see if it would show her other paths her friends had led in earlier lives. The more she thought about it, the more she began to sense there might be a bit more to all of their stories than she’d ever suspected...

*****

The next day Rey and Ben were training together on the back side of the island. By now they’d both trained on several of the surrounding islands and knew their own island as well as the back of their own hands. There was something about one particular spot that seemed to make Rey less focused. Ben always sensed it whenever they were near the back steps that led to a landing overlooking the sea. 

Rey had never brought it up, but he figured it had to do with her earlier times training with Luke. The longer she tried to hide it, the more he sensed a nervousness popping up in her mind. This one particular afternoon it was so clear his curiosity finally got the better of him.

“So… what is it about this area that has you off guard?” He asked as they sat to take a break together on the hillside.

Rey looked at him a bit sheepishly for a moment. She’d known this would come sooner or later. 

“Bit of an embarrassing old story that’s all.” She said, gazing out over the ocean.

Ben scanned their surroundings. There wasn’t anyone in sight aside from the typical random porgs scattered around the hillside. “Too embarrassing to tell your own husband?”

Rey sighed as she looked down the hill. 

“Fine… Over this way.” Seconds later she’d called upon the Force and used it’s energy to jump down the expanse of the hill. She came to a stop on the ancient landing. Ben followed moments behind. 

Rey stared behind Ben at the training rock that now stood several feet shorter- clearly cut clean in half by something powerful. 

As she stood there she could feel her face getting hot… she couldn’t bring herself to say it. 

After a few seconds Ben put two and two together. 

“No, really?” He glanced back at the rock, then back at her. 

Rey just smiled and nodded. 

Ben looked at the rock again, cut cleanly across the top, then back at his wife who for some reason couldn’t bring herself to say what she’d done. He shrugged as he stared at her, completely baffled by the realization. 

“Three years of marriage and you can’t tell me you cut a rock in half?!”

“I KNOW, I know!” Rey protested. “It’s ridiculous! I know that, it’s just…. Well this rock in particular…”

“What could possibly be so special about this one?”

“Well… think about how many _thousands ___of years Jedi have trained on this island with this rock... And yet _I’m ___the one that destroyed it by accident?? It’s more than a little embarrassing!”

Ben suddenly found it very difficult not to laugh. “Well, when you put it that way it is pretty pathetic.”

“Ben!” Rey scolded.

By now he was in full on laughter mode. He knew exactly what had happened. “So what was it that made you lose focus? Some dark lord that kept invading your thoughts?”

Rey sighed heavily, more than a little exasperated by how well he saw through her. 

“Yes, actually.” She finally admitted. She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered it. “Here I was trying to focus on working with this new weapon I needed to train with, and all I could think about was all the things I’d have rather been doing the last time I’d actually used it. I kept trying to push the thoughts from my mind, but it was no use. To make matters worse, Luke was brooding up the hill, watching my _every ___, move.

“That I can imagine...” Ben scoffed, remembering his early training with his uncle. 

“Right, well, between trying to not think about all I wanted to think about and shielding my mind so he didn’t pick up on what, or rather _who ___, I was thinking about I, um… I got a little carried away.”

“A _little ___?! You sliced an entire boulder in half!” Suddenly Ben was laughing again.

“Oh and I’m sure you never sliced through any First Order equipment thinking about me.”

Ben’s laughter immediately died as he stared at her blankly for a moment. “How many former stormtroopers do you _really ___know?”

She grinned from ear to ear. “Call it a lucky guess.”

Now it was Ben’s turn to feel sheepish, having been called out for an embarrassing moment from his past he’d have rather kept hidden.

“So…” Rey could sense she’d stumbled on something big, and wasn’t about to be done just yet. “How often did that sort of thing happen? Once a month? Once a week?”

“Very funny.” He said smiling at the ground. 

“So it _did ___happen more than once, then?!”

Ben knew he couldn’t avoid answering. Rey saw right through him just as well as he did her. 

Finally he looked up at her as he thought of what to say. 

“I guess you could fight me for it… beat me in this next round and I’ll tell you.”

“That’s not how dyads work and you _know ___it.”

“Isn’t it?” Ben cocked his head to the side as he posed the thought. “I’m sure if you’re motivated enough it could be…” He confidently spun his saber around a couple of times, taunting her with the possibility. 

Rey took a deep breath, bringing her staff around as she readied herself for a challenge. “Have it your way then…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was one I've been looking forward to writing a long time. Then something happened this week that made the writing of it far more emotional than I'd ever imagined. A friend of mine lost her battle to cancer this week after a long fight where she gave everything she had. At first the idea of writing about Rey having a night with her friends seemed like an impossible task. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized I needed to do it. When you're in your late 20s/early 30s, you think you've got decades of time to look forward to with the people in your life. Before you know it that timeline can change. If you take anything form this chapter, I hope it's to remember to cherish every moment you have with the people who make this world a brighter place to be in. ❤️


	88. Duty and Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey brings Rose, Zorii, and Jyn down to the mirror cave. What they discover has them realizing the depth behind the friendships they’ve formed in this lifetime… 
> 
> Here’s some gorgeous concept art I found for the mirror cave that I thought would set the scene. 

Ben could sense Poe’s nervousness was at an all time high as they rowed a borrowed boat into the narrow sea entrance of the cave. He couldn’t help but wonder if Poe might be second-guessing the choice to bring the women into the cave by boat. As expected, Poe hadn’t liked the idea of Zorii being floated down by him and Rey via the force- not that Ben blamed him. If he hadn’t had the Force and someone else had suggested floating his pregnant wife into a sea cave filled with mysterious powers, he’d have outright refused too. 

Zorii’s insistence at undertaking the adventure however had been no match for Poe. She’d waited long enough to see the wonders she’d heard about happening right under their feet and wasn’t about to wait any longer. With Rey’s assurance that it was safe, she had all she needed to set her mind to getting down there. Borrowing a boat from the fish nuns to ferry themselves into the cave through it’s narrow entrance was the perfect solution for wary non-Force sensitives to get into the cave and see it’s wonders for themselves.

Zorii, Rose, and Jyn marveled at the foreign world as they entered it. The way the dark rocks overhead came together in a seam above the cave’s opening, the way the smooth rock walls around them appeared to flow out of the water as fluidly as the water itself, the way the further they got into the cave, the rock overhead seemed to ripple out from an area by the interior shore...

It was a world unlike anything they’d ever seen, and yet they’d lived right on top of it this whole time.

“You alright buddy?” Ben asked as he spotted Poe eying the narrow sides of the rock channel they were coming through. 

“Never better.” Poe lied, focusing on rowing as quickly and carefully as he could.

“So _this ___is where the magic happens?” Rose asked, ignoring Poe’s nervousness.

“Right over there.” Rey nodded towards the shore. She could already sense the cave’s powers growing as it reacted to their presence. She hadn’t expected it to react so strongly to her non-force sensitive friends… 

Then again, if she knew anything about the cave, it was to never assume you knew what to expect. 

About a minute later the boat made it to the shore. Ben and Poe quickly set to tying the boat to a large boulder nearby. For a moment Zorii looked around, wondering how she was going to pull herself up out of the boat onto the slippery rocky shore they’d come to. 

“I’ve got you.” Rey assured her. Zorii gasped as she felt the force take hold of her and lift her out of the boat, placing her safely upon the shore. 

“Well that was easy!” Zorii laughed. “You alright sweetheart?” She said, spotting Poe looking like he was about to scream.

“Yeaaahhh… Rey, can you at least warn me next time you decide to float my pregnant wife around?” 

“I knew if I asked you wouldn’t let me. I figured I might as well do things the easy way.” Rey admitted, doing her best not to laugh. Before giving him a chance to respond, she turned to Rose and Jyn who were still in the boat. “You two want a hand up or the easy way?” 

“I won’t say no to that!” Rose replied. 

“I’m definitely up for the easy way!” Jyn added. 

Moments later Rey had them both on the shore. Ben and Poe were right behind them with the boat securely tied in place. 

“Not so fast-“ Zorii stopped them. “We planned this as a girl’s trip down here. You two go take a lap around the island.”

“I’m not leaving you in here-” Poe protested. 

“Oh yes you are.” She smiled, cutting him off. “I’m in good hands. Rey knows more about this cave than any of us.”

“She’s right…” Ben added without thinking. He quickly tried to think of how best to reassure a nervous father to be. He knew that feeling all to well. “I mean- Rey knows this space better than anyone. She can call out to me through our bond if we need to come back for any reason.”

Poe sighed as he looked around. Thankfully the Force hadn’t started up anything unusual yet. The rock solid appearance of a space that had stood the same way for thousands of years was at least somewhat reassuring... He put his hands on his hips as he looked back at Zorii. As much as he hated it, he knew he wasn’t winning this one.

“Just promise me you’ll be safe.” He finally said, firmly kissing her on the cheek.

“We’ll keep a close eye on her.” Rose assured him. 

A few minutes later the women watched together as the boat disappeared out the entrance. 

“I thought they’d never leave.” Zorii sighed. 

Rey went to say something, but stopped as the bright light of the mirror portal appearing several feet away shone behind them. 

“That’s the show getting started.” She said turning to look at it, suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous. She wasn’t sure why, but something about this time felt a little different than all the others. Whatever it was about to show her, she could already sense it would be something big. 

Jyn was in awe as she stared at the mirror portal’s suddenly smooth, mystical surface. “So this- this is how Cassian and I-” she could barely get the words out. 

“How you came into this time?” Rey said. 

“Yes- you brought us through this somehow?” Jyn asked, walking up to it as if drawn in by it’s power. 

“We did.” Rey said, joining Jyn on her left as she remembered how it had gone. “We brought you two through it and took you up the hill where we waited for you to wake up.”

Zorii and Rose cautiously joined her to her right, hesitant to approach the unusual sight in front of them while curious to see what would happen next. 

Jyn paused for a moment, afraid to touch the surface while needing to confirm for herself that it was real. It was the first time since arriving on Ahch To that she’d had to confront the wonders of the Force that had saved her life and the life of the man she loved- wonders that had brought her to the first place she’d felt truly happy in a very long time. 

“It’s safe to touch if you’d like to.” Rey encouraged her. “How the portal reacts to your touch- it will show us what it wants to when it’s ready.”

Jyn bravely raised her right hand to touch the portal’s surface. She hesitated for a moment as her fingers neared the mirrored expanse. Finally, she found the courage to plant her hand on it, waiting with bated breath to see what happened next. 

Suddenly the other three women’s hands were pulled simultaneously by the Force to touch the surface.

“It’s alright” Rey assured them. By now she was used to the cave’s assertive ways. “It’s just guiding us, making sure we all see what we need to see together, at the same time.”

Her three friends stood frozen as they waited to see what would happen next, spellbound by having just felt the Force's power so strongly. 

The spots on the surface where their hands had touched began to clear and fan out, as if thawing while somehow remaining solid. It reminded Rey of how she’d seen Ben’s figure in the mirror on her first visit to the cave. 

This time instead of seeing Ben on the other side, another familiar face had appeared. Padme was smiling back at her, her own hand touching the other side mirroring Rey’s. 

To the right of Padme stood three other women. Their hands were also touching the other side where her friends had placed theirs. 

“Who are these women?” Rose asked. 

Rey studied their faces for a moment as she began to recognize them from previous visions. As she looked at her friend's hands mirroring theirs, a realization began to dawn on her…

Her mouth hung open in shock as she began to understand what it was the cave was trying to show them.

“It couldn’t be…” Rey said, almost in a whisper. She was suddenly overcome with the thought of what the three women standing with Padme represented. 

“Couldn’t be what?” Rose asked.

Rey’s heart was filled with emotions as she thought of how to explain. “This one with me is Padme- you’ve all heard my stories about her a few times by now. These other three…” She nodded towards the women on the other side as she did her best not to choke up. “These three, they were some of Padme’s closest friends during her lifetime.”

Her three friends turned to look again at the unfamiliar smiling faces that stared back at them. Though they weren't able to voice it out loud just yet, slowly the realization began to creep into their minds as well. 

These were the faces of the women they’d been in their most recent past life. 

“But then, does this mean-“ Rose was the first to speak up, though she struggled to find the words as she thought of how to ask it.

“I think it means this isn’t the first lifetime we’ve spent as friends.” Rey smiled. 

Zorii and Rose continued to marvel at the faces they didn’t recognize- yet somehow had begun to feel familiar- like a memory from a dream they didn’t remember having. 

A look of confusion came across Jyn as she looked at the face that stared back at her. “But Padme and Anakin lived during the Clone Wars. If that’s the case, how can this be…” She wasn’t sure how to word it. “I’d already been born during that period.”

Rey bit her lip as she realized the problem with that timeline. Having been born around the same time as Luke and Leia, Jyn would have been a baby during Padme and her friend’s lifetimes. She tried to think of why or how that might be... 

“The Force always has a way of explaining when something doesn’t seem to add up.” Was all she could think to say. 

Moments later the space behind the women on the other side began to brighten and fill with light. Tall red and white marble columns rose from the ground along with a towering arched window behind them that let in cascades of sunlight. The throne room in the palace of Theed had appeared around them. As it did, the four women on the other side of the vision pulled away, walking to take their places in the event that began to play out. 

Padme headed towards the throne as the other three took their place in the front row of a crowd of dignitaries that filed the hall. It was clear this was a special day for the people of Naboo. As Padme took her place on the Throne, a brilliant headdress crowned her head.

“That is some hairstyle!” Zorii chuckled. 

“Hopefully it shows us some of your counterpart’s hairstyles as well.” Rey replied. 

“My what?” 

“Just watch… you’ll see.” Rey said, not wanting to spoil the surprise. 

A man with a white beard and shoulder length hair stood before the crowd holding a transparent orb filled with sparks and light. It was the Orb of Naboo, which all sovereigns and handmaidens swore on before beginning their duties. Rey remembered the man as Governor Sio Bibble from her past visions.

He began to speak as the scene before them burst to life. 

“All those in attendance, I present to you  
Queen Amidala  
Blessed by the wisdom of youth,  
Called to serve her people as so many have before her.

As her loyal subjects,  
Will you swear to serve and honor her,  
As she swears to serve and honor you?"

“We will!” The crowd chanted.

Governor Bibble turned to face Padme

“Madam, are you prepared to take the oath?”

“I am.” She said. 

Bibble held the orb out for Padme to place her right hand on. 

“Will you promise to govern and guide the peoples of Naboo?”

“I solemnly promise to do so.” Padme replied. 

“In all your power, do you promise to uphold justice and mercy in all of your judgments?

“I will.”

“Will you maintain balance and order on our planet- seeking the wisdom of the sages and elders whenever unbalance threatens to enter our realm?”

“I will.”

Bibble allowed her to take the orb and hold it herself as he turned to face the crowd. 

“Now, for the application of the Scar of Remembrance- The mark our queen will carry to signify all those Nabooians who came before the Great Time of Peace brought about by King Jafan.”

A woman in black came forward to carefully apply the final touches of Padme’s makeup - red dots on her cheeks, red covering her upper lip, and most importantly the red strip that divided her lower lip. 

After the traditional makeup had been applied, Bibble addressed the crowd again.

“It is with great joy and immense pride that we welcome you, Queen Amidala of Naboo, as the new sovereign and queen of our beautiful home world. May your reign be as prosperous and peaceful as any who have come before you.”

With that, those in attendance responded by standing to applaud. 

Padme beamed as she sat on the throne, occupying it for the first time as her home world’s queen. It was a day she’d dreamed of since she’d been nominated for ruling as a little girl- the day of her coronation. After being named queen and swearing to uphold her duties as sovereign, the friends she’d chosen as her handmaidens would be called to join her.

Bibble spoke again as he called her first handmaiden forward. 

“Sabe” he called out. 

The woman who’d stood opposite Zorii came forward and knelt before Padme, placing her hand on the orb. She resembled Padme as closely as if they were sisters, and had a confidence about her that made it clear she would always have Padme’s back, come what may.

“Sabe- Do you promise to serve and honor your queen, to help her as she takes on the immense task of ruling, to protect her with everything that you have, even giving your life for her if necessary?” Bibble asked.

“I do.” She replied. 

He nodded for her to join Padme at her side. 

“Dorme” he called out. The woman who’d just stood opposite Rose came forward and kneeled before Padme. She too resembled Padme a bit, though her demeanor was much softer and less intense than Sabe’s. Rey could sense that like Rose, Dorme had a kind heart that made her the type of friend any woman would be lucky to have. 

“Dorme- do you promise to serve and honor your queen, to help her as she takes on the immense task of ruling, to protect her with everything that you have, even giving your life for her if necessary?”

“I do.” Dorme replied. Governor Bibble nodded for her to join the other two. Dorme took her place by Sabe’s side. 

“Corde” he called out. The woman who’d stood opposite Jyn came forward and kneeled before Padme. Like the other two, her coloring and features also resembled Padme, but she seemed a bit more shy than the other two had been. Rey could sense being in front of a large crowd wasn’t something she was comfortable with, but she was no less excited about and committed to taking up the role that lay ahead of her.

“Corde- do you promise to serve and honor your queen, to help her as she takes on the immense task of ruling, to protect her with everything that you have, even giving your life for her if necessary?”

“I do.” Corde replied. 

“So we were your handmaidens when Padme was Queen?” Jyn asked as the scene continued. Several other handmaidens followed to be named after the first three had taken their places. 

“Yes, you were.” Rey said, still full of emotion at the scene playing out before them. “The three of you were my very closest friends and confidants. That’s why I chose you. We’d grown up together, we did everything together…”

“Oh my goodness, Rey!” Rose said choking up, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. 

The significance of what they were seeing overwhelmed all four of them as they reached out and held each other in a hug. The close friendships and bonds they’d developed so quickly together in this lifetime suddenly began to make sense. 

Though many parts of their past lives together were still yet to be seen, the strength of their friendship bringing them back together was clear. They’d been incredibly close in another lifetime, and now that their souls had returned to the realm of the living, they’d traveled across galaxies and star systems to find each other. They might not have known that’s what they were doing all this time, but the Force had guided them to where they needed to be in this moment- back together, learning the truth of who they’d once been. 

Their attention was pulled away as the coronation in front of them vanished and a far more tense moment in the palace began to play out. The Trade Federation had just invaded Naboo. The queen and her handmaidens were being escorted from the palace by two Jedi who Rey recognized as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Padme was wearing red and orange robes along with the other handmaidens while Sabe wore a regal, yet dark and mournful ensemble, complete with a tall headdress of black feathers.

“Now that’s a… hairstyle? Headdress? I don’t know what to call it…” Zorii said. “But why am I-she? Why is Sabe dressed like that?”

“Sabe was Padme’s lead bodyguard and impersonator.” Rey explained. “Sabe looked the most like Padme. In times of trouble she’d dress as queen and fulfill her duties while Padme dressed as a handmaiden and tried to blend in with the others.”

Zorii turned to look back at the scene. “So I was like- your bodyguard then?”

“You all were.” Rey explained. “But Sabe definitely took charge the most often…” As Rey said it, she realized how history had appeared to repeat itself. Like Sabe, Zorii was always the one to take charge when something needed doing. Anytime Rey needed help with something, Zorii was always happy to be her right hand and ambassador. As her friend in this lifetime, she’d still very much fulfilled that role. 

The scene sped up and another dramatic turn of events began to play out. The Battle of Naboo had just begun. Padme was still dressed in the modest robes of a handmaiden while Sabe now wore a red and black ensemble, more fitted and easier to move in than the stunning black gown she’d worn before. It was clear all were dressed for action should the need for close combat arise. Even dressed for battle, Sabe’s ensemble still included another dramatic, albeit more practical, headdress. 

“Damn, I was hot back then... I can’t get over the hairstyles!” Zorii exclaimed.

“Still plenty hot in this lifetime, I’d say.” Rey affirmed her friend. 

“Let’s be honest the hair and makeup team isn’t what it once was.” Zorii joked.

“Looks like a bit of a headache to go through every day if you ask me.” Rose laughed.

Their attention was pulled back to the scene in front of them as the portal went dark for a few moments. It began to shine again as the scene transformed into one of a city that sprawled to the horizon.

“Coruscant.” Jyn said out loud. “I remember it from when I was little…”

Before she could finish that thought two ships flew through the air towards a landing pad- a large escort ship accompanied by a smaller security fighter.

After the two landed the small fighter opened first. Padme climbed out with one of her security guards. She was dressed like him, as if just another member of her security team. Padme’s term as queen had ended, and afterward she’d taken on the role of a senator to represent her home world in the Galactic Senate. 

It became clear this was another instance where Padme had needed to disguise herself to hide her identity. As the large escort ship opened Corde emerged, dressed in a regal ensemble worthy of a senator. 

“That’s you, Jyn.” Rey said proudly. She’d never seen this scene before, but seeing Jyn’s former self dressed so elegantly was a sight to behold. 

Jyn went to say something but was interrupted as those in the scene began to speak.

“Looks like there was no danger after all.” The guard said after removing his helmet. Padme didn’t respond but watched the ship intently, breathing a sigh of relief as the sight of her friend greeted her.

The relief of the moment was short lived as an explosion burst from the ship, rocking the landing area and sending Corde flying forward with shock wave from the explosion. Padme and her guard were knocked back off their feet as well. The large escort ship was ripped apart as balls of fire from more explosions burst forth.

Pieces of burning metal rained down on the landing pad as the explosions subsided. Without thinking of her own safety, Padme sprung to her feet as quickly as she could, sprinting over to Corde to see if her friend had been hurt. Her guard did his best to follow, pulling out his blaster as he looked around to scan the area for any remaining threats while checking for survivors.

Padme threw her helmet off as she got to her friend. Corde was lying face down and motionless in a pile of singed robes.

“Corde!” Padme cried turning her over, hoping there was still something she could do to help her friend. 

“My lady…” Corde moaned, struggling to speak. “I’m so sorry… I failed you…” She stammered as her eyes drifted shut.

Padme shook her head, horrified by the death her friend had just suffered while wracked with guilt that her last thoughts were of something as trivial as _duty ___.

“No!” Was all Padme could get out, unable to believe what was happening. 

“My lady-“ Her guard said trying to pull her away. “You’re still in danger.”

For a few moments Padme clung to her friend who’s life had already left her body. Somehow she was able to rise to her feet, in spite of the heavy weight that now hung over her soul.

“I shouldn’t have come back…” Padme said, almost in a whisper. Her eyes were still locked on her friend’s lifeless body as sobs threatened to overwhelm her.

“This vote is very important.” Her guard assured her. “You did your duty, and Corde did hers, now come!” He said pulling her away from the scene as other security members flooded the landing pad to check for survivors and help the wounded. 

Tears began to fill Rey’s eyes as she watched the scene continue. 

“Oh gods, Jyn-” She said looking back at her friend. 

The look on Jyn’s face was the last thing she’d expected after witnessing the violent death of her former self. Either her battle hardened exterior was even stronger than Rey realized, or somehow something about the scene stood out as more significant than processing the emotion what she’d just seen. 

Perhaps it was a little of both… 

Jyn’s eyes remained narrowed on the scene in the portal, studying everything about it in great detail. 

“What year do you think this was?” She asked, surprising Rey with the question.

“I um…” Rey wiped her eyes as she stammered to think of when this would have taken place. “Knowing Padme and Anakin’s timeline… This was probably still a few years before the Clone Wars broke out. Why?”

“That’s what I thought...” Jyn said, eyes focusing on different members of the crowd as those who could were helped to their feet and escorted off the landing pad. “The styles of clothing, the ships, the hairstyles… it reminds me of my early childhood. I must have been born soon after this.”

With that thought, Rey realized the horrible tragedy they’d just witnessed might explain the confusing part of Jyn and Corde’s timeline. They’d never lived during the same time, but as one life had come to an end, the other had begun almost immediately… 

Rey began to understand right away what had happened. 

_“I’m so sorry… I failed you.” ___played over and over again in her mind as the realization set in.

When someone died feeling like they’d let down a loved one, they might come back right away, hoping to get back to those they cared about…

Knowing the circumstances of Corde’s death, the timeline made perfect sense.

“You came back for me.” Rey’s eyes again began to fill with tears as she realized just how loyal of a friend stood next to her.

“What now?” Jyn asked, barely having heard what Rey said.

“Corde… she felt she’d let Padme down... You would have been born soon after... The same thing had happened with Anakin and Ben... Anakin died feeling like he’d let down his children… then Ben was born just over a year later….” Suddenly another thought struck her. “That’s why the Force led us to you on Scariff…”

“Scariff?!” Jyn now looked at her completely confused. She hadn’t followed a word Rey had just said.

Rey realized she’d been babbling, and had better explain the events chronologically in order for it to make sense. She took a deep breath to calm herself as she tried to think of how best to explain it. 

“Sometimes, when a person dies feeling like they had unfinished business, their soul will return right away. Does that make sense?”

“Yes... that makes sense” Jyn replied. 

“Judging by the timeline, it appears that’s what happened with Corde. Corde died feeling like her duty of protecting her friend wasn’t fulfilled. Corde and Padme, you and I in our previous life, we were the best of friends, but we were taken from each other far too soon. You died young and we didn’t get to live our lives together as we’d hoped.”

“That makes sense...”

“Then, like you said, you must have been born soon after this. Perhaps a year or two later. It appears your soul returned to find the friend you’d been taken away from.”

Jyn stared back at the portal as the thought sank in. Somehow, as Rey said the words… she knew it to be true.

“That’s not all of it though.” Rey went on. “By the time you were old enough to get out into the world, Padme would have been long gone. Your friend you’d come back to find was no longer around. So, your fate took another turn- You were tasked with the duty of getting your father’s plans to the rebellion. You fulfilled that mission with flying colors. Tragically that mission resulted in your death alongside the man you loved, but only temporarily. The Force put Ben and I in the right place at the right time to find you and bring you both back to us. Jyn, you’re here because I’m the friend you came back to find. You gave your life once to protect me, and I returned that devotion by saving your life and bringing you to my time.”

Jyn’s mind spun with a mix of emotions as Rey’s words sank in. Somehow in her heart it all felt right… but the truth of it was so enormous it was hard for head to grasp it right away. 

“So then all of this…” She looked back at the portal which had momentarily gone dark. “You finding me with Cassian and bringing us here… this is all part of some destiny that began in our past life together?” 

“Yes.” Rey chocked back tears as the depth of it sank in. 

“Dear gods…” Jyn said chocking up. Her eyes filled with tears as it all sank in. Rey threw her arms out to hug her friend, a hug Jyn returned fiercely. Tears streamed down their cheeks as the depth of all they’d been through to get back to each other sank in. 

“You guys this is too much!” Rose cried, joining them in their hug. 

“Too much is right...” Zorii said wiping a few tears of her own as she joined the hug. 

Together the four women held each other as they soaked up the feeling of being together. They’d all been through so much and had experienced more loss than most at this point in their lives. It made the realization of who now stood with them that much more meaningful. After all they’d been through, after all the challenges they’d faced, they now found themselves surrounded by friends who’d journeyed across space and time- who’d fought fate and destiny- just to get back to each other. 

The force let them have a few seconds together, but as usual the moment was interrupted. A bright light shown from the portal as another scene from Coruscant began to play out.

“Guess that means it’s your turn.” Rey smiled at Rose as the women wiped their eyes and turned to face the portal again, preparing themselves for more. Rose watched with a mix of excitement and nervousness as another scene on Coruscant began to materialize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this one out! Events in the world this past week combined with the recent loss of a friend made it a mental struggle to take this chapter on. I figured I’d better take a break for a moment until I felt back up to it to make sure I did the story justice. I’m glad to be back and keeping this story moving forward toward the final adventures that lay ahead. 
> 
> This chapter ended up being so detailed that I had to split it in two. Hope you enjoyed this part of their journey so far!
> 
> Notes on Canon-
> 
> Here’s a graphic I did of the three friends with their counterparts from their past lives, along with a few scenes where we see them in the movies: 
> 
> Most of you probably recognize these three as canon characters. Aside from the coronation, the scenes I describe them in together are canon as well. Padme's coronation is a mix of canon details merged with the types of oaths rulers on our own planet take.
> 
> I took some liberty with the timeline of their friendships to keep things simple so the chapter didn’t get too long with backstories. In canon Sabe was Padme’s lead handmaiden as queen, while Dorme and Corde came into her service once she became a senator. Everything else about them, their personalities and appearances, are canon. We learn a lot about their characters in the book The Queen’s Shadow.
> 
> A bit on Corde since we see her the least in the movies- Corde was a devoted and loyal friend of Padme’s, but always felt like she wasn’t a good enough handmaiden since she didn’t excel at combat skills. Handmaidens are supposed to be body guards as much as anything else, which we see in Episode One when they fight alongside the Jedi and palace guards. 
> 
> Since Corde wasn’t great with a blaster and couldn’t defend Padme well physically, she was tasked with being her double. When she died she said “I’m sorry I failed you” because she felt like she should have been able to discover whoever it was trying to hurt her friend. When the attack happened, she felt she’d failed in her duties by allowing the attack to happen. Of course it wasn’t Corde’s fault, but self-doubt and guilt is rarely logical.
> 
> In canon Corde died a year before Jyn was born, so the two characters lined up perfectly for a “I came back to find you” arc. Since Jyn is such a badass I felt like she was the perfect character for Corde to come back as for her second chance at kicking butt and taking names. 
> 
> Zorii and Sabe- The similarities in these two characters just made too much sense. Both are take charge bad asses with a flair for style that don’t take shit from anyone. 
> 
> Rose and Dorme- The story of their friendships with Padme and Rey is such a beautiful one that I had to break this up and make it its own chapter. Looking forward to sharing that part next...


	89. When You Need Them Most

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Rose discover the depth of their friendship goes far beyond what they've been through together in this lifetime. As their visions come to an end, Rey is surprised to sense a shift in Ben she didn't expect...
> 
> Some suggested listening as we journey back to the prequel era again... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83n4pLUhTmk&t=5988s

Rey recognized the large room in the scene as the apartment Padme and Anakin had lived in during their time together. Judging by the way Anakin was dressed on the couch across from Padme, this was right after they’d reunited after not seeing each other for years. Anakin was still a padawan training under Obi-Wan who sat beside him, leading the conversation.

Dorme was seated next to Padme, listening intently to all the Jedi had to tell them. 

“It’s still a bit hard to believe...” Rose said, in awe of the scene as it played out. 

It was clear from the looks on their faces that the trauma of Corde’s death still hung over them. Anakin and Obi-wan had been sent to protect Padme in the hopes that such a thing wouldn’t happen again. Some of the old fear and tension felt during the battle of Naboo could be felt in the room as well…

Though they’d all come through the battle of Naboo victorious and were entering what should have been a new, peaceful chapter in their lives together, a dark presence still hung on the out skirts of their consciousness…

One that threatened to disrupt and destroy everything they’d all worked so hard for.

“Those two…” Rose said eyeing the two Jedi “Is that…” 

“Obi-Wan and Anakin.” Rey explained. “Sorry, I keep forgetting who’s seen what…” Rey did her best to explain who everyone was, finally coming to who she’d meant to point out to Rose earlier. “The master with Obi-Wan in that earlier vision was Qui-Gon, Finn’s former self.”

“So Finn and I just missed each other in this past life?” Rose said, not missing a detail. 

“I guess you did.” Rey said, feeling a little sad at the thought. “Thankfully fate brought you two together this time around.”

“That it did.” Rose smiled. 

The sky outside of the apartment went dark and the scene began to speed up. As it resumed a normal pace, Padme was asleep in her bed while Anakin and Obi-Wan waited outside. The two Jedi paced around nervously, doing their best to talk about other things while waiting to see if anything would happen. 

Just as they’d feared, a threat began to materialize outside of Padme’s window. An assassin droid approached the window and cut a hole in it, releasing two highly poisonous insects into her bedroom to kill the senator in her sleep. The insects scurried across the floor and crawled up to her bed. Slowly they crept up around Padme on her headboard, ready to deliver venomous strikes that would end her life in seconds...

Sensing the danger, Anakin burst into the room, jumping on top of Padme in bed. He ignited his light saber and killed the tiny invaders before they had a chance to deliver a fatal strike. 

Padme shot straight up from the shock of what had just happened. The attempt on her life was nothing compared to the surprise of Anakin towering over her in her own bed. Even more surprising was the look on his face as he stared down at her in nothing but a nightgown…

It felt as if his bright blue eyes bore into her soul in that brief moment… 

It took everything Padme had not to reach up and hold him to her as the horror of what had just happened set in. 

Spotting the droid that had planted the killer bugs, Obi-Wan ran and jumped out of the window to go after it. 

“Stay here!” Anakin said firmly, running off to follow Ob-Wan in his pursuit of the killer.

Dorme sprinted into the room as Anakin left, jumping into bed next to Padme. “Are you alright my lady?!” She asked terrified.

“I’m fine… I-” Padme stuttered, leaning over to look around Dorme.

Dorme looked to see where Padme’s gaze had gone, and realized it was on the empty door where Anakin had just run through moments before. 

Looking back at Padme it was clear she was still frozen in shock by what she’d just been through. Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath... For a moment Dorme thought the horror of the moment had overwhelmed her, rendering her friend unable to speak. 

She gently smoothed Padme’s hair back to calm her, letting her know the ordeal was over and that everything was all right. At the same time R2 flicked on the lights in the room.

Light filled the space, allowing Dorme to see Padme’s cheeks were flushed and her lips were red as she did her best to catch her breath. 

Looking back at the door again, Dorme did her best to hold back a smile. Surviving an assassination attempt was exciting enough on it’s own. Waking up to a handsome Jedi on top of you in bed appeared to be a whole other matter for Padme however…

“R2, bring us some water.” Dorme said. “I think we both could use a drink.”

Zorii scoffed as the scene continued. 

“What’s so funny?!” Rey asked. “I just saw my former self nearly die!”

“If that’s how most assassination attempts go… _sign me up. ___” Zorii joked.

“No kidding…” Rose laughed.

“Very funny.” Rey mumbled, doing her best to focus back on the portal. 

The scene sped up and blue sky could be seen outside of the window again.

Anakin and Padme were alone in her room this time. Padme was packing her bags quickly as she prepared to leave for Naboo. The Jedi council had decided the threat to her safety had become too dangerous and had ordered that she return to her home world until the threat was eliminated. 

Through the crack in the door Dorme could be seen approaching in the hallway. As she went to raise her hand to knock she paused as she caught a glimpse of the two, deep in conversation. 

“Don’t grow up too fast, Ani.” Padme said lovingly as she folded another robe to put in her suitcase. 

“But I _am ___grown up.” Anakin insisted, rising too his feet from where he’d been sitting next to her suitcase on the bed. The once young boy now towered above her, his face just inches from hers.

From the way Padme looked up at Anakin, Dorme could tell this wasn’t a moment to interrupt. She silently took a few steps backward, letting the hand that had meant to knock fall to her side. She held back a smile as she turned to walk back down the hallway. 

“Mm-hmmm…” Zorii humed as Rose held back laughter. Rey did her best to avoid blushing as she ignored both of them. By now it was impossible to avoid the fact that they very much had a point. 

The scene began to blur and speed up again and the portal shown brighter. This time the scene that played out took place at a large space port where transport ships were arriving and departing.

Inside one of the transports, Padme rose to her feet as she prepared to say goodbye to her friend. She and Anakin would be leaving soon for Naboo. Dorme would impersonate her for a brief time on Coruscant- long enough for anyone who’d been following her to not realize she’d actually left. Once enough time had passed, Dorme would assume her real identity for a time to throw Padme’s assassins off their trail. Once they’d judged the threat to be eliminated, she’d leave Coruscant to join Padme on Naboo. 

“Be safe, my lady.” Padme’s guard said as they came to the end of the ship. 

“Thank you captain.” Padme replied. “Take good care of Dorme for me. The threat’s on you two now.”

“He’ll be safe with me.” Dorme said, doing her best to smile. She looked down at the floor for a moment as she tried to think of what to say to Padme before she left. There was so much she wanted to say, but none of it could be said in front of the security team that now accompanied them. Dorme’s eyes filled with tears for a moment as she regretted how much she’d wished she’d spoken with her about these things sooner…

She looked back up at her friend as she struggled and failed to find the words she needed.

“You’ll be fine.” Padme assured her.

“It’s not me, my lady. I worry about you-” Dorme knew she couldn’t finish that sentence. “What if they realize you’ve left the capital?” She said, doing her best to cover for what she’d really been thinking.

“Well…” Padme said, a huge smile coming across her face as she looked back at Anakin. “Then my Jedi protector will have to prove how good he is.” 

Anakin smiled back at her as their eyes met. 

Obi-Wan interrupted them as he pulled Anakin aside, insisting he not do anything without first consulting his master first. Anakin replied obediently, doing his best to brush him off so he could get to leaving with Padme.

“I assure you I’ll get to the bottom of this plot quickly my lady.” Obi-wan assured her. “You’ll be back here in no time.”

“I’ll be most grateful for your speed, master Jedi.” Padme said. 

“It’s time to go.” Anakin said leaving the ship as quickly as he could. 

“I know.” Padme replied. She turned to finish saying her goodbyes to Dorme as Anakin and Obi-Wan said theirs. 

“I’ll be back to you on Naboo as soon as I can my lady.” Dorme promised as the two women hugged. She whispered what she said next so that none of the others would hear. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of catching up to do by then...”

Padme looked confused as their hug came to an end. Deep down part of her had a hunch of what that might mean, but she knew better than to allow herself to admit it. 

“Of course....” She said awkwardly, looking down at the floor as she leaned over to gather her bags. Together she and Anakin descended the steps of the ship, heading down the lane of the space port towards the ship that would take them back to Naboo. 

Dorme took her seat on the shuttle as she watched the two leave. Obi-Wan and the Captain of Padme’s guards still stood in the ship’s doorway for a moment watching them leaving together. 

“I do hope he doesn’t do anything foolish.” Obi-Wan muttered.

“I’d be more worried about her doing something… than him.” The captain replied. 

Dorme looked out the window at Padme and Anakin again. Padme glowed as she laughed at something Anakin had just said. 

“And yet neither of you have _any ___clue…” She whispered to herself, giggling at the two men who were somehow oblivious to all that was going on between the pair.

The transport ship disappeared as she scene began to darken. Stars and planets flew by this time, signifying a move through time and space to another world before the next scene took shape. From the events they had just witnessed, it was clear they were about to visit Naboo.

“This should be interesting.” Jyn mused.

“No kidding.” Zorii added dryly. 

Rose was content to continue smiling happily, not saying a word. How things had a way of coming around…

“Really, you guys, this is serious stuff…” Rey did her best to protest.

“Clearly it’s getting _quite ___serious…” Zorii smirked.

Rey smiled as she looked back at the portal. Annoying as it was, her friends could see right through her former self- just as well as they appeared to see through her in this life. As she thought about it, she realized how fair it was for them to do so. It was a skill they’d perfected throughout more than just one lifetime... 

Once the next scene on Naboo began to play out, it was clear a good amount of time had gone by. Dorme was already visiting Padme and Anakin at her family’s home, before the three of them would leave to hide out at a more remote location in the Lake District. 

Dorme stood in the kitchen with Padme’s mother Jobal and sister Sola. She watched Padme and Anakin walking with Padme’s father Ruwee in his garden. 

“So tell me, Dorme…” Jobal spoke up, a slight smirk coming across her face. “What’s _really ___going on between my daughter and Anakin? I know I can trust you to tell me, even if Padme doesn’t seem to have admitted it to herself yet.””

Dorme stared at the floor as she bit her lip, trying to think of what was safe to reveal. This wasn’t the first boyfriend Padme had been secretive with her family about- though this was clearly much more serious than any of the boys she’d dated in the apprentice legislators program. 

“I think Padme’s feelings for Anakin are as clear to you as they are to me.” Dorme finally said, looking up with a smile.

“Clear is right…” Sola chuckled as she came to join Dorme at the window. “She keeps insisting their relationship is “strictly professional”, but the glances I keep catching them stealing when they think we’re not looking are hardly “professional”.”

Jobal joined the two women at the window so she could get a better view of what was happening. 

Ruwee was pointing out bunches of blue flowers he’d added since Padme had last been home. Padme missed most of what her father was saying as a pair of equally blue eyes had caught her attention- blue eyes that had a way of staring at her like she was the only woman in the galaxy. 

“You’ll look out for her- won’t you?” Jobal said, her voice a bit heavier than before. “Let us know if there’s anything we should be concerned about?” 

Dorme swallowed hard as she briefly looked back at her. She understood perfectly. 

“I always have.” Dorme smiled as she looked back at them, her eyes focusing on Anakin. 

As much as she loved seeing her friend happy with a man she admired, a small part of her couldn’t help but be worried about what the two of them might be getting into…

The next few scenes that played out went by quickly. Dorme reassumed her duties after joining Padme and Anakin in the Lake District. She did her best to give the two of them their distance when it appeared they needed privacy… which was more often than not. 

One particular evening, Dorme waited for Padme in her bedroom to help her retire for the night. As usual Padme had kept her waiting long after when she usually turned in. Dorme didn’t mind of course. She was glad to see her friend allowing herself the freedom of spending her evenings with a man she cared about. Allowing herself to follow her heart wasn’t something Padme was known for doing… 

Suddenly Padme could be heard approaching. The black beads of her dress swished and clinked together as she hurried into her bedroom. From the look on her face, it was clear she was troubled by whatever had just happened. 

Dorme waited to say anything, giving her friend all the space she needed to work through whatever it was she was feeling.

Padme came to a stop in front of her vanity, and the look she gave herself broke Dorme’s heart. For a brief second it appeared she was disgusted with herself, like just she’d done something she regretted. She pulled the steel headband off she’d been wearing and dropped it on the vanity before aimlessly attempting to let her hair down for the night. 

“Would you like some help with that?” Dorme asked warmly.

Padme looked back at her a bit startled, having not noticed her in the room yet. Seeing her friend she smiled, thankful to not be alone. 

“Of course….” She said as her face softened. 

“Let’s get you comfortable.” Dorme smiled, patting the spot next to her on the bed.

Padme was able to relax a little as she came over and sat down to join her friend. No matter what she was going through, Dorme always seemed to know just what she needed and when… 

Tonight, the presence of a friend was exactly what she needed.

The first several minutes of unbraiding Padme’s hair Dorme remained silent, letting her relax from whatever had caused her to get so worked up. Finally she figured she’d better attempt to check in, unlikely as it was Padme would be fully honest with her.

“Are you feeling alright this evening?” She asked kindly, not wanting to press too much.

“YES.” Padme replied a little too quickly. “I mean, yes…. I’m feeling just fine.”

Dorme’s eyes drifted to the direction of the parlor where she new she’d just come from. She knew exactly what that answer meant. 

“You know if there’s anything you ever need… anything at all you need to talk about, I’m right here.”

Padme paused as she turned to look at her, her eyes suddenly filled with a different emotion. “I do, I-“ She almost said something that had been weighing on her heart for a while, but quickly thought better of it. “I mean, I do… know you’re here for me. Thank you, Dorme. You have no idea how much your friendship means to me.” She did her best to smile before turning to look back in the other direction. It took everything Padme had not break down as she thought of all she’d been holding back… 

It was as much of a breakthrough as Dorme supposed she could hope for. She remained quiet as she finished unbraiding her hair, knowing Padme would tell her if and when she was ready to… whenever that might be. 

Several more scenes began to play out out in a similar fashion. Dorme would always do her best to check in when Padme seemed troubled. Padme always did her best to hide the truth of what she was feeling. It was clear both wanted so much to reach out to each other -to be honest about what they both knew was happening- while duty dictated that for both of them that was never an option. 

The portal began to play out a scene Rey knew well by now. A rose colored sunset was settling over a peak across the lake. Padme was dressed in lace head to toe as she stood with Anakin before a priest on the patio of their villa. The two joined hands as they prepared to say their vows. 

The view of the scene drifted back over the villa to one of the highest windows. Dorme watched silently, dabbing tears here and there as she drank in the happiness of her friend’s secret moment together. 

“You knew the whole time…” Rey said in awe as she turned to Rose.

“I suppose I did.” Rose said, breaking into a smile. 

The two women were lost for words for a moment. The depth of all they’d been through together- of all they’d held back from each other while still somehow being there for each other- was too overwhelming to know what to say. 

“It doesn’t look like it’s over yet, you two...” Zorii said, alerting them to the fact that another scene had begun playing out. 

Rose and Rey turned to watch again, curious to see what else it could have to show them. 

The next scene that had taken shape was back on Coruscant in Padme’s apartment- or rather, the Skywalker’s apartment now that they were married. The Clone Wars had just come to an end after three years of turmoil that had caught all of them up in the struggle in different ways. 

For three years Dorme had stood by her friend, doing her best to be present while tip-toeing around the fact that she was hiding her marriage from the galaxy. The Clone Wars of course made a marriage easy to hide- war had a way of keeping people apart as duty called them else where. Whenever Anakin was away on a mission, which was more often than not, Padme’s life as a senator went on as normal. 

Whenever he returned to Coruscant however, Dorme often found reasons to have to return home to Naboo, to give them the privacy they needed. 

When she did have to be on Coruscant at the same time as Anakin, she knew how to make herself available while not getting in the way. She’d leave a little earlier than usual every evening, and arrive a little later than usual every morning. She made sure to always have some excuse prepared for what had pulled her away. Padme never once questioned it, thankful for whatever twist had given her the privacy she needed to hide the truth of her relationship with the man she loved.

One morning while alone in Padme’s apartment, Dorme set to organizing Padme’s closet. It was a routine task she was used to by now- looking through the senator’s many dresses to see if anything needed mending or replacing. This time as she got to work however, she began to feel confused as she went through the gowns. It was clear right away that everything seemed to be out of order… 

Most of Padme’s favorite dresses had been pushed to the back of the closet, as if they weren’t needed. Those that hung towards the front were loser, less fitted gowns that she usually only wore for casual occasions. Those that were pushed to the back were all form fitting, stunning cuts that accentuated and flattered her delicate figure….

Dorme’s mouth suddenly hung open.

Her eyes went wide as the only logical reason for the new arrangement began to set in…

She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to pry, but overwhelmed with the need to confirm for herself the possibility of what she suspected...

“It _is ___my job to make sure she has everything she needs.” she said to herself with a slight smile, justifying what she knew she was about to do.

She hung the gown up she’d been looking over and quickly went to Padme’s bathroom. As her handmaiden it was part of her job to see that Padme’s home was stocked with everything that was needed to get through daily life- including products all women knew well. She opened the cabinet of her vanity to see if anything needed restocking.

As expected, the box of tampons Dorme had replaced a couple of months ago was right where she’d left it. She pulled the box out to make sure…

It was still unopened. 

Dorme teared up as it all but confirmed what her heart already knew. Padme was going to be a mother soon. As hard as it had been to hide her forbidden marriage, her friend would need her now more than ever... 

She put the box back as her mind spun with all that would need to be done... 

Suddenly she heard someone entering the apartment. R2’s familiar beeps could be heard as Padme returned from wherever she’d been that morning. 

“Mistress Padme!” She heard 3PO say. “I do hope your outing this morning was an enjoyable one.”

Dorme quickly hurried out of the bathroom and down the hallway to the living area.

“Having a good day so far?” Dorme asked cheerfully as she greeted her friend in the sitting room.

Padme had already made it to the couch and had just sat down to relax. She looked a bit tired as she started to say something. In an instant her face looked panicked- as if she were about to be sick. 

Dorme grabbed the nearest trash can and rushed it in front of her friend, who threw up in it moments later. 

“R2 get some water! Quick!” Dorme ordered. R2 flew to the kitchen as quickly as his wheels would carry him.

“Oh dear!” 3PO said, hurrying after R2 instinctively. 

“Not so fast 3PO, I’ll need you in a moment.” Dorme ordered. 

3PO turned and waited nervously for whatever he was told to do next.

Dorme sat by her friend and rubbed her back as her stomach emptied itself of everything she’d had for breakfast that morning. A few moments later Padme looked up, horrified that her friend had just seen her in the full throws of morning sickness. 

“I’m sorry I- It must have been something I ate…” She tried to lie. The look in Dorme’s eyes told her it was no use. 

“3PO take this.” Dorme ordered, holding the waste basket out for the droid to dispose of.

“Yes Mistress Dorme.” He replied obediently, hurrying out of the space as quickly as he could.

Dorme turned back to look at her friend. Her eyes glistened with tears as her mouth shook. She prepared herself to say something she’d wanted to say for a long time. 

“It’s _alright ___...” Dorme said firmly as she took Padme’s hand. “You don’t have to hide anything anymore. It’s like I’ve always said, I’m here for you… for _whatever ___you need.”

Padme’s own eyes filled with tears as the weight of all she’d held back from her friend poured through her. It felt like a dam bursting as she realized she could be her true self with her friend for the first time in a very long time. 

“Oh Dorme, I’m so sorry-“ She started to say as her voice trembled. 

“There’s _no ___need for that.” Dorme stopped her. “Apologies are for people who’ve done something wrong. There’s absolutely _nothing ___wrong with falling in love.”

Padme wasn’t sure what she’d expected from her friend if and when her ever secret came out- anger, disappointment, maybe even shame- but it hadn’t been that… 

“Oh Dorme…” Padme said as she threw her arms around her fiend and cried into her shoulder. She could feel herself breaking down as the intensified emotions that accompanied a pregnancy threatened to overwhelm her. “I’m so, so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner!” was all she could get out between sobs. 

“It’s alright, you know I understand…” Dorme said, holding her friend tightly. She began crying as well as the emotion of her friend finally opening up to her made her heart fill with joy. 

As the two women cried together, Rey slowly turned to look at Rose as another through struck her. Several things in this lifetime began to make sense as well. 

Rose had been the quickest of any of her friends to warm up to Ben…

She’d been downright thrilled when she first saw her pregnant on Tatooine… 

“So you knew about Anakin…” Rey said out loud without meaning to. 

“It looks that way…” Rose said, her eyes glistening as she continued watching the touching scene.

“You knew about Ben too, didn't you?.” 

Rose’s gaze snapped back to Rey. She hadn't really know the specifics about Ben, but towards the end of the war she had sensed for some time that something had been going on with Rey...

“All those times you checked in on me on Ajan Kloss…” Rey went on. “You knew something was going on.”

“I did.” Rose said tearing up. 

“And you made sure to keep checking up on me to see if I’d open up.”

“Mmmhmmm” Rose nodded as a few tears fell down her cheeks. 

“You always told me… you were here if I needed someone to talk to…” Rey chocked up as she had a hard time getting the words out. “In that lifetime… and this, you knew there was something I wasn’t telling you, something I wasn’t telling anyone…”

“That much was clear.” Rose said, chocking back tears. “I knew whatever it was, you’d tell me when you were ready to, and until that time I just did my best to be there for you.”

“You were.” Rey cried as she reached out wrapped her friend in a hug. “You really were- you saw me when it seemed like no one else did.... Oh what did I ever do to deserve such a phenomenal friend?!” Rey hugged her tighter, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I guess that’s the great thing about real friendship, you don’t earn it- it comes along when you need it most.”

“You two might want to watch this part…” Jyn said sniffling. 

As Rey and Rose turned to see what was happening, they kept their arms around each other’s necks, not about to break free of the hug they’d been sharing. 

The wonder of the realization they’d just had turned to pure joy as they watched Dorme measuring Padme for new dresses- maternity dresses to accommodate her expanding figure. Scenes went by in a flash as they watched Padme trying on new dresses while sharing her hopes and fears with Dorme about impending motherhood. It was clear a closeness had come back into their friendship- one they’d both missed during the past few years. 

“Maybe someday I’ll help you try on maternity dresses.” Padme teased as she sat on her bed after trying on her new gowns. 

“Don’t hold your breath.” Dorme scoffed as she joined her. 

“Don’t say that!” Padme scolded. She resituated as a cramp from her expanding belly got the better of her. “I remember you had your fair share of boyfriends back in school… there was that one- the one who’d take you and Sabe and his brother on speeders down to the waterfalls- what was his name?”

“Allon.” Dorme sighed. 

“Allon! That’s right, whatever happened to him?”

“Probably married some rich woman with no aspirations to serve anything or anyone....” Dorme smiled. 

“How easy that would make things.” Padme laughed. “Oh!” She suddenly jumped. 

“What was it?”

“The baby just kicked me!” Padme said excitedly. “Put your hand right here… maybe he or she will do it again…”

Dorme waited for a moment to see if anything would happen. After a few moments she was afraid she’d missed her chance. She thought to pull away just as she felt something small press against the underside of her hand.

“Oh! There it is!” Dorme said excitedly.

“My little son or daughter is excited to meet you.” Padme smiled. 

“You _know ___I can’t wait to meet them.” Dorme smiled back.

Their former selves happiness in that moment was the last thing Rey and Rose they saw before the portal went black. For a moment the four women waited to see if it would show them anything else, but it was clear the visions of the past the Force wanted to share with them were over. 

In a way Rey was grateful. She knew well by now what came next. After all they joy they’d just shared she didn’t want anything to spoil the happiness of the memories they’d just uncovered. 

As Rey looked at Zorri’s bump on the other side of Rose, another beautiful thought came over her. 

“We’re finally getting to do what we’d hoped to do back then.”

“What’s that?” Rose replied. 

“Watching our families grow up together.”

With that, no other words were needed. The four women joined together in another hug. The chances of fate that had brought them together on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere hadn’t been chances at all- but the Force giving them the opportunity to finish what they’d started together a lifetime ago.

"Raising our families together... I suppose that means you're next." Zorii said, smiling at Jyn. 

"I think I'll need a bit of time on that one." Jyn said with a sigh as their hug came to an end. "I'm still getting used to the fact that we've skipped forty years ahead."

“I guess I did meet one of them… eventually.” Rose said, loking back towards the portal. “It just took a little longer than I thought.” 

“Leia…” Rey smiled as she wiped a few fresh tears from her cheeks. “The most extraordinary women we ever knew.”

“She’d have made Padme proud.” Rose said, recognizing the beauty in how their stories had all intertwined. 

“I was proud just to have known her… finding out she was my daughter in another life, well, it was about the wildest realization I’ve had down here.”

“I imagine that’s saying something.” Zorri said wiping a few tears of her own. 

“Something is right.” Rey looked back towards the sea entrance of the cave, noticing early afternoon light had just begun to stream in. “So what do you say ladies- time to call our ride back? I think the cave is done with us for today.”

Zorii laughed. “I’d almost forgot about them… you think they’ve killed each other yet all alone in that boat together?”

“They better not have…” Rey said as she prepared to reach out to Ben through their bond. As she did, she could fell a calm in him… one she wasn’t used to sensing that often. It reminded her a bit of how he’d felt the evening after reuniting with Lando… 

_Everything alright? ___Ben asked, already feeling her reaching out.

_Everything’s great… will you two be back by our way soon? We’re all done here. ___

_We’re already on our way. ___Ben said, having sensed the shift in the Force that signified the portal had closed.

 _Has Poe been able to keep it together this whole time? ___Rey asked curiously.

_Oh yeah, he’s been great. ___

_Really? ___

_Yeah… why wouldn’t he be? ___

Rey wasn’t sure what to think about that, but figured she’d better ask Ben later. 

_Nevermind… we’ll see you in a few minutes. ___

_See you in a few. ___

With that their bond was closed and Rey turned to look back at her friends. 

“Actually… I think they had a great time together.” Rey said with a slight smile.

“What makes you say that?” Zorii asked surprised. 

“Just a feeling…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Ben and Poe talked about on their lap around the island... Guess we'll find out next chapter. :)
> 
> Notes on canon- If you go back and watch the scenes I described, the reactions of characters fit right along with the other thoughts I described going through their minds. Anytime I take something from canon I make sure it doesn't change anything we've already seen, but just gives it more depth and understanding to make the story more clear and interesting. All the names for Padme's family and details about her and Dorme growing up together are canon as well, with the exception of Dorme and Sabe sneaking down to the waterfalls with boys. That I just threw in for fun. 
> 
> The scenario I imagined for Dorme and Padme made the most sense with what we know of them in canon. Dorme was Padme's closest friend during the Clone Wars. Dorme also left Coruscant a lot during the Clone Wars, saying she needed to visit family at home. I figured there may have been more to that than she let on...
> 
> It makes sense Padme would have tried to hide her marriage from her as much as possible at first, but once she became pregnant it would have been impossible to hide. Once Padme becomes pregnant, her wardrobe remains just as fabulous as before, as though someone is helping her keep up appearances as she does her best to hide her growing figure as long as possible. I figured Dorme would have been the one to do so. 
> 
> Rose and Rey getting to watch their children grow up together in this lifetime after sharing Leia as a mentor just made that particular storyline that much sweeter. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it! Things are about to get exciting as we wind towards the climax of all our crew's adventures...


	90. Old Scores, New Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey spend an afternoon together talking about what each learned during the women's trip to the cave. It turns out both have a lot to learn from the past as they look towards the future. 
> 
> Here's a manip of these two enjoying their afternoon together:
> 
> Suggested listening- A lot of this chapter sees Ben and Rey relaxing on a hillside above the ocean. I found this video by Ambient worlds very fitting, as it reminded me of another couple who very much deserved the sort of happy ending that we never got to see on the big screen. It’s an incredibly long video, I recommend staring about an hour in. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCK8-2pdtFU&t=4228s

After dropping their friends off at the village, Rey and Ben found themselves with a rare afternoon free as Chewie and Lando were still watching their girls with the droids. Since arriving on Ahch To, Lando had loved joining Chewie as a stand in grandparent to keep the toddlers every now and then.

Before heading back out on their own, Rey stopped by their hut to change into a pretty pink dress and blue shawl, a more flowing and delicate ensemble than the clothes she’d worn down to the cave. Ben knew right away what the wardrobe change meant- Rey had just seen visions of Padme. 

Seeing her previous self as Padme had inspired Rey over time to branch out from the practical, functional clothing she was used to. Every time she had a vision of who she was in that lifetime, she’d find herself scouring the holonet for catalogs of clothing that featured elegant feminine styles, similar in aesthetic to what she’d seen Padme wearing. Though Rey didn’t have the bevy of servants to care for a wardrobe the level of queen or a senator, a lighter feminine touch had come into how she chose to dress in her downtime

“So what did you and Poe talk about on your boat ride?” Rey asked once they got comfortable together on their favorite hillside.

“Oh you know… just stuff.”

“Just stuff huh?” Rey smiled at him skeptically. “I sensed you two talked about more than just stuff”.”

Ben sighed with a slight smile. By now he was used to how well his wife could see through him. “The first hour or so was just small talk. He wanted to know what it’s like having twins- what to expect. At some point, talking about kids, we both realized we remembered each other from when we were kids.” 

“You what?!” Rey said sitting up.

“We remembered we’d known each other as kids, when we were young. I’ve told you before our families were close back then.”

As much as it made sense, Rey was still shocked by that revelation. “What do you mean by “when we were kids”- how long did you know each other exactly?”

“Poe is a few years older than me, but as early as I can remember we’d play together whenever our parents happened to be on the same planet. You know how my childhood went though. As I got older the outbursts got worse. Mom and dad kept me home on Chandrilla whenever they could and didn’t bring me around other kids much. They worried what might happen...” his words trailed off as he remembered how lonely that time in his life had been.

“They didn’t want you hurting another child.” Rey said, completing his thought for him. 

“Pretty much…” 

Rey’s heart broke for him as she felt the weight of the loneliness that had come into his life at that time. As if what he’d been through hadn’t been hard enough, losing whatever young friends he’d grown up with must have been extraordinarily painful on top of that.

After a moment she remembered what they’d been talking about, and the biggest question of all that came from it. 

“So then, if you knew each other when you were little, why did it take this long for both of you to realize it?”

“It’s… a little complicated.” Ben muttered, staring off at the horizon. 

“I imagine it would be.” Rey took hold of his hand that had draped over her right shoulder and held it close to her chest. Her touch was just the reminder Ben needed to remember this was the one person in the universe that he could share anything with. 

Ben wracked his memory as he tried to think of how to explain it- All they’d been through in their adult lives, all the times they’d been thrown together in circumstances they’d never wanted to face in the first place… 

Ending up on opposite sides of a war would have made any childhood friendship complicated. Ending up on opposite sides of the war their parents had once fought together- well, that made it a miracle that he and Rey were even having this conversation.

Ben realized the most important place to start would be the first time he and Poe had seen each other as adults- a story Rey had heard more than a few times by now. 

“When we first saw each other- on Jakuu- I recognized him, but you have to remember Snoke had me believing “Ben Solo was dead and Kylo Ren was who I really was”. I’d spent years acting like anyone from my previous life was dead to me, like I didn’t know them anymore. When I saw Poe I just pretended like I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t seem particularly glad to see me, so I just assumed he didn’t know who was really behind the mask. When I interrogated him I just kept that up. He didn’t seem to care either way, so I let that confirm what I’d tried to tell myself- that he didn’t know who I was. It made things easier, considering the circumstances. “

“That’s understandable.” Rey said as Ben paused, thinking of what came next.

“So the next time we saw each other was on Tatooine. That wasn’t exactly a smooth reunion either.”

“That part I remember well.” Rey did her best not to laugh as she remembered how explosive it had all been. 

“Yeah… so, things were still weird, so we just kept acting like we didn’t remember each other.”

Suddenly their earlier interactions began to make more sense to Rey. 

“So Poe’s whole thing about “we go way back”… That was his way of getting back at you for making things weird?”

“Probably.”

Rey did her best not to smile or laugh. Poe did have a particular talent for making things weirder when someone else made them weird first. 

“Anyway…” Ben tried to remember where he’d been going with this. “It still seemed like he didn’t remember me from back when we were kids so I just assumed he didn’t.”

“And he probably did the same since you acted like you didn’t know him.”

“Exactly.”

“So when he was the first to come around to you on Tatooine- that wasn’t just because he trusted me- But because a part of him wanted to believe you were really back?”

Ben furrowed his brow as he thought about it. “You might be right about that.” 

More instances flodded Rey’s memory as she realized she wasn’t anywhere near done. “That time around the fire pit… when you pretended to have just remember his parents, that was your way of connecting the dots, without actually having to connect the dots…”

“You could say that...”

“And the only way you two seemed to connect again was in the air, flying together, like you’d heard stories about your parents doing together growing up?”

Ben looked at her for a moment as he realized she’d stumbled upon a truth he hadn’t even realized himself. 

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

“And you offering to help him make wedding rings as he started his own family- that was some kind of peace offering from you- even though you weren’t ready to admit the important stuff yet?”

“It’s a little scary how good you are at this.”

Rey couldn’t help but smile as she went on. “…and all of this has gone on for, what, two, almost three years now before you two finally had a conversation about it? Both of you are so stubborn- neither was going to be the first to bring it up- until you were forced to sit in a boat alone together for hours?”

“That about sums it up.” Ben admitted, glad she was finally done.

Rey shook her head as she tried not to laugh. “Why do men make communication so much more of a challenge than it needs to be?”

Ben’s gaze went cloudy as he looked out over the ocean again. “I killed a mutual family friend in front of him the first time he’d seen me since we were kids. That makes things more than a little complicated.”

Rey could feel her heart beginning to break again as she was suddenly reminded of all the two men had been through together. Both caught up in the same conflict that had consumed the galaxy for generations, before they ever had a chance to understand their true purpose in all if it… 

“Oh Ben, I’m so sorry-“ She started to say. 

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault. If anything you’re the one thing that’s made all of this easier.”

“How do you mean?” 

Ben was surprised she had to ask that. Sometimes she really had no idea how remarkable she was. 

“None of us would be here if not for you.” He finally said. “If not for you calming me down I’d have probably killed both Finn and Poe the moment they showed up and we’d still be moisture farmers in the middle of nowhere.”

“I suppose I _did ___have a part to play in bringing everyone together…”

Ben smiled again as he remembered another part of his conversation with Poe. “Speaking of bringing everyone together- it turns out I have you to thank for getting my droid back.”

“What droid?” Rey had no clue what he was talking about. 

“Once we admitted we remembered each other, Poe had no choice but to finally admit BB-8 is really mine.”

“ _What?! ___” If Rey was confused before, she was now completely lost.

“The little guy’s memory must have been wiped after I left, he doesn’t remember me at all from his early days, but BB-8 was originally my droid.”

“This I’m going to need to hear more about.” Rey said sitting up. 

“There’s not much to it other than the fact that he’s the best droid I ever built.”

“ _You ___built him? And you didn’t think that was important to mention to any of us all this time as Poe kept using him as his own droid?”

“Doing so would mean I’d have to admit that I remembered the part of my childhood that Poe and I were friends.”

Rey’s mouth hung open as she stared at him, speechless after what she’d just heard. Suddenly an ironic truth of Poe’s fondness for BB-8 became apparent. It was just one more thing he had to hold over Ben in some sort of never ending childhood rivalry they had going on between them- one that could only be ended once Ben admitted he remembered him from their childhood. 

“This all really is far more complicated than it ever needed to be.” Rey said shaking her head. 

Ben smiled. “I did warn you it was complicated.”

“That you did.” She sighed.

Suddenly another thought struck him- a memory of how their own first encounter had gone. He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. 

“What?” Rey asked. “What is it?”

“While we’re bringing up the past… you and I had visions of each other since we were children, but when you saw me you acted like you had no clue who I was.”

Suddenly it was Rey’s turn to feel a bit sheepish. “I suppose you have a point….” 

Ben reached out and put an arm around her waist puling her close to him again. “I guess I deserved that.” He said playfully kissing her neck. 

“Yeah… you did.” She smiled leaning into him.

“At least I got you to come around eventually.”

“If I remember correctly, I was the one who got you to come around.”

“Let’s call it a draw.” Ben said, continuing to pepper her with kisses.

“Fair enough.”

Rey sensed another shift in her husband as she settled into him again. She could always tell when he was remembering something from his life on the dark side. Those thoughts had a biting, painful nature to them, heavy and distinct from his other memories.

“Now what’s caught your mind up?” She asked.

Ben looked out over the ocean again, knowing this too was one he needed to share. 

“When we first saw each other, I knew you had to recognize me the same way I recognized you. But that fear I sensed in you- that “Oh no this wasn’t what I wanted” when you saw me, it always made this sliver of doubt hang in the back of my mind. Like maybe I’d just imagined it all- maybe you didn’t feel it or want it as strongly as I did.”

Rey’s face softened as she turned to look back up at him. As far as he’d come from the man he’d been, she was always in awe of the way he was able to share things that were so deep and profound from that part of his life. She listened intently as he went on. 

“That doubt hung in my mind like a curse- until we touched through our bond and you came to me right away. Seeing you right there in front of me- coming to me of your own will, having you walking beside me because you actually wanted to be there- just the sound of your footsteps next to mine was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. It was the promise I needed to know what I’d felt had been real the whole time…”

He paused and closed his eyes for a moment thinking of it. He’d remembered the way her footsteps sounded so many times it was as if he could still hear it. 

“Of course things didn’t go the way I’d hoped... I woke up alone, head of the First Order with the whole galaxy at my feet- but I didn’t have the one thing I truly wanted. I called my knights back to me right away. I kept them around me like a barricade to my generals, so I could stay focused on what I really cared about- finding you. Their presence made my loneliness even worse. Every time I walked through a corridor with them, the sound of their boots trampling behind me was deafening. It was the complete opposite of what I wanted to be hearing- the sound of you walking next to me. Whenever I was walking with them, I’d try and drown out the sound of their heavy footsteps with the memories of yours, just you walking next to me, like I knew it should be...”

Ben paused again as he realized he’d been rambling. When he looked down at his wife he saw her eyes were moist, her face full of emotion. 

“Oh Ben, that’s- that’s absolutely beautiful.” Rey said, wiping her eyes. 

He leaned in to kiss her on her forehead. He kept his face buried in her hair for a moment, savoring the feeling of being close to the one person who’d ever given his life true purpose. He could feel the same calm coming over her as she settled into him, and in that moment no words needed to be said. After everything they’d been through together, the feeling of being close to each other was still just as exhilarating as it had been when he’d first come to her on the sands on Tatooine. 

Except now, there was so much more meaning behind the bond they shared. 

Now they knew just who they were, and why the universe had brought them together after so many lifetimes had torn them apart.

The laid together in silence for a bit- soaking up the comfort of each other’s presence- listening to the waves crashing on the rocks below. Sometimes it was all they could do to just sit and be quiet and realize how lucky they were to be living the life they’d finally made together. 

After a while Ben’s rarely quiet mind had him wondering about the whole reason they’d set out to the cave that day in the first place. 

“So… are you going to tell me what you saw with the girls today?” He finally asked. 

“I suppose I should get to that.” She smiled, remembering the depth of all she’d discovered with her friends. “It turns out Rose, Zorii, and Jyn are all friends I had when I was Padme.”

“Of course they are.” Ben chuckled. By now it was almost humorous how much the Force had sought to intertwine their destinies with the friends who’d come to Ahch To with them. Perhaps none of it should have been a surprise. The Force had a way of making the things that seemed simplest in life the most profound.

“So who were they? Anyone I’d recognize from our visions?”

“Yes actually… Zorii was Sabe.”

“That I can see.” Ben laughed.

“Jyn was Corde, and Rose was Dorme.”

Ben looked at her confused. “Jyn? But she would have been-“

“Born around the same time- Yes. It turns out she was born one year after Corde gave her life to save Padme during an assassination attempt. She came back to find me, and instead we ended up finding her with Cassian on a beach the very moment they needed us most.”

Ben’s mind spun for a moment as he thought of what all that meant. He smiled as one thought stood out above all else. 

“Cassian is going to love that.” He smirked. 

“One of many revelations he’s had about the Force since coming to this island.” Rey giggled. At that moment she spotted Jayelle and Forten coming up the hill towards them on a hike. She figured she could tell Ben about the rest of their cave visions another time. 

“Hey there you two!” She hollered down to them. “Want to come join us?”

They smiled and waved, heading up to meet then as quickly as they could. Since finding out about the connections they’d all shared in their previous life they’d enjoyed spending time together as much as they could. Discovering such a precious lost connection had a way of bringing people together, especially those who’d been through as much as they had in their young lives. 

“So what have you two been up to all day?” Rey asked as they joined them. 

“Bit of sparing on the south end, some meditation, and a hike around the island which brought us here.” Forten replied. “We’ve learned by now to take full advantage of any days without rain.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Ben scoffed.

“And where are your little ones?” Jayelle asked. “Haven’t sold them off to the fish nuns yet, I hope?”

“We thought about it, but figured Chewie and Lando were better suited to look after them.” Rey joked. Suddenly she had another thought she couldn’t resist asking about. “How about you two? Any chance we might see more future padawans added to our next generation at some point?”

Jayelle and Forten looked at each other for a moment, not fully smiling but not unhappy with the thought either. 

“You’ll have to forgive Rey.” Ben spoke up, saving them from any potential awkwardness. “If it were up to her everyone would be filling this island with babies as quickly as possible.”

“Ben! That is not true!” Rey protested. “I might love babies but I want everyone to… well, do it in their own time, when it feels right.”

“But still get to it at some point?” Ben couldn’t help but jab. 

“Stop.” Rey blushed. “I guess I should have phrased that differently. Do you two think you’ll want kids at some point?”

Forten looked to Jayelle, letting her answer. She was the one who’d have the most to do with it after all. 

“Maybe someday.” Jayelle sighed. “I wouldn’t really know where to begin if I’m honest. I don’t have any memories of my own mother growing up. It’s kind of hard to imagine really….” 

“I know exactly what you mean.” Rey said, her tone suddenly more serious. 

Jayelle looked to her, remembering her master had been ripped away from her own family at a young age. 

“Do you remember your family at all?” She asked, unable to hold back. 

“Most of what I remember I’ve had to uncover since coming here.” Rey began. “There’s still a lot more I’d like to see, but well, like all things there never seems to be enough time to get to see everything we want to see.”

“Previous lifetimes has a way of complicating things.” Forten spoke up.

“Yes, you two have discovered that well enough by now.” Rey smiled. Suddenly she remembered something she’d told Zorri once that seemed like it might be helpful. “Something I told Zorri a while back, when we were having a conversation a lot like this one- it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from. What matters is where you want to go. If resistance members and ex-members of the First Order can get together and build an order of Peace keepers, then I think just about any of us can do whatever we set our minds to, even if that includes having kids.”

Jayelle couldn’t help but smile. Somehow it felt like she’d waited a long time to hear that. 

“That is a great way of putting it.” She replied. 

***** 

A couple months later, Rey remembered that conversation on the hillside fondly as she watched Jayelle holding Sharan, one of Zorii’s twin boys, who was just a few hours old. Jayelle was sitting in bed with Zorrii on her right, while Jyn sat with Sharan’s brother Arvel on her left. 

“How’d you come up with such interesting names?” Jyn asked as she marveled at the tight curls that crowned the newborn’s head. They’d inherited ther father’s coloring, but their blue-green eyes and pin tight curls were all their mother's. 

“Sharan is a twist on Poe’s mother’s name.” Zorii explained. “And Arvel is the name of one of her Pilot friends. We came up with a list of names and right away I knew I wanted Sharan. Of all the other’s, Arvel had the best ring to it. I figured with twins I’d need to be able to yell both quickly, so picking two names that flowed together was important.”

“A wise choice.” Rey grinned. Though she hadn’t planned it, the rhythm between Hana and Ilaria’s names was something she found her self more and more grateful for as they became more mobile. 

Cassian was seated at the foot of the bed with Ben, Poe, and Forten. He realized he recognized the name Arvel, and was almost afraid to ask if there was a connection at first. By now he was getting used to the idea that everyone they’d ever known was gone. 

“Was that friend of your mother’s by chance Arvel Crynyd?” He asked looking to Poe.

“Did you know him?” Poe replied, hopeful to hear more about one of the heroes he’d grown up hearing stories about.

“I remember Arvel well.” Cassian said. A smile came over him as he looked between Ben and Poe. “As good as you two are with those X wings, he could have probably showed you both a thing or two.”

“Dad did always say he was the only pilot he knew who could out maneuver a tie.” Poe smiled. Of all the pilots he’d grown up hearing about, Arvel had been one of his favorites. 

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a knock at the door- more well wishers had arrived to see the newborns. 

Moments later Jannah, Beaumont, Rose, Finn, Lando and Chewie arrived to join the group. Finn and Chewie did their best to calm the excited toddlers they’d brought in with them. 

“It’s alright guys.” Rey spoke up. “You can bring them all in, the boys are awake right now.”

Finn came in with Owan up on his shoulders, while Chewie had a girl on each shoulder.

“Beeebeee!” Hana squeeled spotting the tiny bundles. Ilaria clapped her hands, knowing this was indeed a special occasion.

“That’s right girls! These are our newest residents on Ahch-To. Owan are you excited to have more boys to play with?” Rey asked. 

“If skipping is nap is any indication, he’s definitely aware something exciting has happened.” Rose laughed. 

Rey suddenly remembered what the group had been talking about and did her best to fill them in. “Just before you got here, Cassian was telling us about little Arvel’s namesake.”

“By all the gods, I guess you would have known him…” Lando said, surprised by the connection. He was still getting used to the idea that the young man that stood before him had at one point been older than himself. A smile came over him as he remembered the pilot he’d met just before the battle of Endor. “What a pilot- that man truly knew how to push a fighter to it’s limits. I imagine he could have even showed you boys a thing or two.” He said with a chuckle, nodding towards Ben and Poe

“That’s what we hear.” Poe smiled. 

Finally Cassian got the courage to ask what he’d been meaning to. “So what happened to him- is he still around or-” He couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence. 

“He was one of many we lost during the battle of Endor.” Lando said, his voice suddenly heavy. “His sacrifice was what turned the tide for the rebellion. Me, Ben, Poe- none of us might be here if not for him.” Lando went unusually silent for a moment as he remembered all the friends he’d lost in that battle, as well as in the years since.

“So how did it happen?” Cassian asked, unable to hold back. 

A twinkle came into Lando’s eyes as he recalled the greatest battle of his early life. “Han and Leia were down on the ground disabling the Death Star’s shields. By some miracle Han had allowed me to fly the Falcon. I was at the head of the squad assigned with taking out the Death Star. What we didn’t know was the Empire had led us into a trap. We realized the Death Star was operational when it fired on the Liberty… destroying it in seconds... ” He wracked his mind for a bit remembering just how it had gone. 

“Akbar called us off right away, but I held firm. I was sure Han and Leia would come through. I knew if we could lead an attack on the destroyers themselves, the Death Star wouldn’t dare fire on it’s own fleet. Or at least I hoped they wouldn’t. Luckily I was right and that bought those on the ground more time to get the shields down. When the shields finally did come down, we still had plenty of obstacles in the way to get to where we needed to be. The biggest of all was the Executor- the largest most dangerous Star destroyer in the Imperial fleet. Akbar ordered all firepower to attack it, but Arvel was already a step ahead. His squadron was on their way to attacking the bridge and taking out its shields. They threw everything they had at it. Akbar later told me just how it went down. Most of his team had been taken out, and the Executor was about to press through to come after the rest of us. Arvel’s A wing was hit, and knowing he had just seconds to live he steered right into the command bridge disabling the ship entirely. It was the last thing any of us expected. Next thing we know the whole super destroyer flew right into the Death Star, turning the tide of the battle and making it possible for us to get through.”

By now everyone in the hut was hanging on his every word. Even the toddlers were silently staring at "gampa wanwo" as they had begun to refer to him. 

“Well you kids know how the rest of it goes. We blew that son of a bitch up and the rest is history.”

“History indeed.” Jannah smiled. 

The room went silent for a moment as they all thought of the extraordinary events that had brought them all to where the were in this moment. Wars that had raged on for generations, victories as precious as they were hard won- after all the galaxy had been through, it was almost scary to hope that such suffering might be over. And yet, none of them could deny the hope that their diverse mashup on an island in the middle of nowhere represented. 

Their silence was interrupted as both boys began making sounds that made it clear they were hungry. 

“That’s my cue.” Zorii said doing her best to take one in each arm. 

“Here, I’ll help you get set up.” Rey said, crawling over the bed and helping Zorii prop both boys up with pillows. 

“You are one lucky momma to have someone who’s already been through all this.” Jyn noted. 

“You’re telling ME.” Zorii smiled.

A few moments later Rey had helped Zorii get both boys situated to where they were feeding happily. Both infants snuggled into their mother as they filed their hungry bellies. 

Rey’s heart filled with joy as she watched Zorii taking to motherhood so naturally. The beauty of the moment wasn’t lost on the rest of the group either. Anything that might have made their minds afraid of hoping that the best was yet to come for the galaxy melted away as the hope of the next generation sat before them. 

Whatever the galaxy needed from them to ensure a balanced, peaceful future, by all the gods they were going to find a way to make it happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on Fan theories:
> 
> I hope you guys liked the twist of this chapter. I subscribe to the theory that Ben and Poe knew each other as kids, but it would have only been briefly when they were young since Ben was kept away from other children when his anger issues started getting worse. Knowing their personalities and their history, I imagined their reunion would be anything but smooth. I tried to keep them feeling like people who didn't know each other, while hinting there might be something else there. When I first started imagining how their reunion might go, I couldn't help but think of the way I sometimes feel anxious when I spot someone in my hometown from my childhood or teen years, wondering if they'd recognize me or not. I usually just pretend like I don't recognize them, unless they say something first- which rarely happens. This is something I'm sure we all do when more often than not we do recognize people from our past. 
> 
> I figured with all these two have been through and as strong as their personalities are- on top of the fact that Ben killed someone that they'd both been close to growing up- it would have taken quite a bit to actually admit they remembered each other. 
> 
> As for BB-8, there's a popular fan theory that Ben built him. You can see a video on that theory here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSkAxdLrYvM
> 
> For me the biggest hints that Ben built BB-8 come from The Last Jedi and Ben Solo and the Bug Hunters. 
> 
> In the cartoon, we see little Ben has removed 3-PO's head at one point. Han and Chewie are distraught as this means one of them will have to fix him.
> 
> Here's that image:  
> 
> 
> In The Last Jedi we see BB-8's head pops off during the explosion from Kylo firing on the Resistance's ship. It reattaches all by itself without any help from anyone else. 
> 
> Here's that scene:
> 
> To me this shows Ben realized a droids head coming off was a problem, and he fixed that when he built BB-8. 
> 
> The one wrench in this theory this is BB-8 never seems to act like he knows who Ben is when other's around him do. That makes me think he must have had his memory wiped, just like 3-PO had his wiped after Anakin turned to the dark side. Apparently droids relationships with their makers are strong enough to need to wipe their memorys if their builders end up on the wrong side of things. 
> 
> Notes on Canon: 
> 
> You can see Arvel Cynid’s heroic sacrifice in Return of the Jedi here. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbsIUX2LoJQ
> 
> Everything said about this charecter in this chapter is canon. At :19 in this clip, you see his ship shot by one of the Executor’s canons. As Lando said, knowing his fighter was damaged beyond all hope and that he had mere seconds to live, he steered his fighter into the command bridge of the Executor. This took out it’s command and caused the ship to fly blindly into the Death Star. Akbar’s look of despair in that moment was from knowing that, though they’d won a strategic victory in the battle, they’d just lost one of their best fighters. 
> 
> The destruction of the Executor was the turning point in the battle of Endor, which led to the Rebellion’s greatest victory over the Empire when they destroyed the second Death Star and in effect ended the Empire’s reign of terror over the galaxy- at least for the next several decades.


	91. Rediscovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary-
> 
> The Dyad makes it to a place they’ve waited many lifetimes to return to. When they arrive home, they realize some of the greatest adventures are those that never require leaving their front door.  
> 
> 
> Suggested listening- This chapter is a monumental one, both for the story between Ben and Rey as well as the canon it deals with. I figured some epic Star Wars ambience was called for while enjoying it. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2BTLCt6xOI

As Ben and Rey walked together down the trail that led to the cave, it felt like any other day of work for the two of them. The well worn path to the cave's entrance now seemed as much a fixture of the island as anything else. Over the years their feet had worn a smooth trail into grass that covered the island’s hillsides, proving just how many times they had taken this course. With what lay ahead of them this morning however, it was anything but just another day. 

While the mission ahead flew through their minds, Rey couldn’t help but find herself reflecting on all that had taken place over the past couple of years. 

A little over two years had gone by since the Dameron twins had been born. In that time another wedding had been celebrated on Ahch To as the Kin's made things official. The Tico's had welcomed another child, a daughter who they’d named Paige. Ben and Rey had watched their own daughters grow into spunky young ladies with minds of their own, while also growing their extraordinary knowledge gained from adventures into the past. 

On this particular morning, the time had finally come to attempt venturing all the way back to Kaleth. It had taken them a total of five years on the island to reach this point in their journey through the Force. 

Though they’d done an incredible amount of living in those five years, somehow it had felt as though the time they’d spent so far on Ahch To had flown by.

*****

“Ready to do this?” Ben asked, dialing in the sextant as they stood together in front of the portal. 

“I think we’ve both been ready for a while.” Rey smiled, making sure she had her point on the compass set precisely. 

They joined hands before stepping through the portal together. Thousands of years began rushing past them, the energy of it blowing their hair back like a gentle breeze. Flashes of light from stars being brought to life and burning out joined the mix of sensations they were experiencing- sensations they knew well by now from their years of studying travel through the World Between Worlds. 

Finally the whirlwind of stars and space around them started to slow down as a beautiful blue and green planet began taking shape in the distance. They felt themselves being pulled toward it… past its two moons they knew by now to be Ashla and Bogan….

Down, down, they flew through the planet’s atmosphere to the surface of Tython. They came to a stop in front of a hut that was part of a village of huts on Tythos Ridge. It didn’t appear to stand out in any way from the others, yet the two of them knew right away they were home.

Once inside, Rey couldn’t believe how small it was. It was only slightly larger than the ancient huts on Ahch To, but being for just the two of them it was all that Jeshan and Layna had needed. She had to remind herself it was still huge compared to the bombed out At-At she’d once called home, or the tiny captain’s room Ben had occupied on Starkiller Base. 

“It looks like you’re the one who’s forgot to return your books this time.” Ben said, spotting a neatly stacked pile of light texts on the table. 

“I suppose I’d better return them then…. wouldn’t want to keep anyone from an addition they needed to study.” Rey picked them up and put them in the bag she’d slung over her shoulder. Something told her they might come in handy once they got to the library. 

Suddenly Ben wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her to him as he took in every detail of the space. 

“Sweetheart, what is it?” She asked, turning around and wrapping her arms around him to return the affection. 

“This place…” He said with a heavy sigh. “It’s just dawning on me what all it means. We spent years living here together, but we had no idea how little time we’d really have. All the lifetimes we spent fighting our way back to each other, only to get torn apart again and again….” His thoughts trailed off as the enormity of it sank in.

Rey put her hand up to his cheek to make sure he looked her in the eye with what she said next.

“Nothing is ever taking you away from me again. Not even death can keep us apart anymore- remember?”

“I guess I did do that, didn’t I?” The happiest of smiles lit up Ben’s face as he said it.

“You did.” She beamed up at him. “Now- what do you say we get back to the library and see if we can find the books that explain how you achieved that? I imagine we’ve got quite a few volumes to go through.”

“We better get to it then.” He said looking back at the door. For the first time in thousands of years, it was time for them to get back to the library that had once been their life’s work- and would be again now that they were ready to bring it’s wonders into their own time.

*****

By now Ben and Rey were used to the feeling of walking through a time where no one knew they were there. Tython was so different from any of the other worlds they’d visited however, they found themselves wishing they could be seen by its inhabitants. How they’d have loved to be able to talk to the Je’Daii they were walking among- people who’d lived in a time of balance unlike anything they’d ever known. It was an odd feeling being around people they wanted to know everything about, yet not being able to ask them a single question. 

Eventually they found themselves in front of the massive archway that stood above the steps that led up to the library. Two matching towers hovered above them, towers that held countless centuries of Force knowledge. Nothing like it had ever existed in recently recorded galactic history, and wouldn’t again until they completed the immense task of returning back and forth with its volumes to their time to be scanned. 

Something about the weight of all the centuries between this time and their own hung on their shoulders climbing the steps. At the top they came into in a courtyard filled with statues of Je’Daii masters. As much history as they’d seen together, they knew nothing of these masters or even what their names were. It was yet another reminder of how many discoveries awaited them in this space. 

Suddenly a pair of doors to their right swung open- the doors to the Tower of Light. As they hung open, a group of students filtered out signaling the library had closed for the day. All of them were clutching pages of notes they’d taken, things they’d need to study for whatever parts of the Force they were individually exploring. 

Something about the hurried nature with which the students ran off to their destinations felt a bit ironic to Ben and Rey. As exceptional as this visit felt to them, it was just another day on Tython to its many inhabitants. 

The two of them knew better than to let the moment pass. They quickly used the Force to fly over the crowd of students and through the doors before they swung shut again. 

It took a second for their eyes to adjust to the indoor light after having been in the blinding afternoon sun. 

As soon as their eyes adjusted the interior space, the sight they were met with took their breath away. 

Nearly every surface inside was covered in Wayland marble- from the floor they were standing on to the walls around them. The stone gleamed white with hints of gold buried in its striations. The only surface that wasn’t clad in the unusual stone was the ceiling above them, which appeared to be some sort of sound absorbing material. It was a smart innovation in a cavernous space where relative silence was needed. 

As gorgeous as the marble surfaces were, what truly took their breath away was the enormous collection of knowledge that now towered above them. In the center of the space, glass walls encased a collection of written texts unlike anything they’d ever seen.

Rey’s mouth hung open as she tried to wrap her mind around what they were looking at. The vast collection was proof of just how much written text had once meant to the galaxy. The eighteen volumes she and Ben had back at home represented what was by far the greatest collection of ancient knowledge anyone in their time had ever collected. Any one of their volumes was a priceless piece of the past, revealing mysteries and truths from an era that much of the galaxy thought of as simply myth or legend. Impressive as that collection was, it was barely a drop in the ocean of knowledge that now stood before them. 

They found themselves staring at what was easily thousands, no, several hundreds of thousands of texts. The sheer size of it overwhelmed them, freezing them where they stood as they tried to comprehend just what they were looking at. 

Almost immediately, the task that lay ahead began to dawn on Rey. Every part of her body felt weighed down as that reality set in. By the looks of what towered in front of them, what they’d set out to do might prove be too great a challenge for just a few people to accomplish in one lifetime. 

Her attention was pulled away from that thought as she spotted Ben wiping the corner of his eye. 

“Are you alright?” She asked. 

“I’ve never seen anything so incredible in my entire life.” He said, his voice full of emotion. 

Ever since his earliest memories of studying ancient texts with Luke, Ben had been fascinated by the art of written words. He’d prized every piece of ancient text he could get his hands on, studying their every detail and duplicating their intricate characters by hand. 

Now the greatest wealth of written text that had ever existed stood before him, and the sight of it made his heart fill with more happiness than he knew what to do with. 

Seeing Ben tearing up, Rey’s anxieties about all the work that lay ahead began to melt away. The way he was able to appreciate the beauty of such a moment- without getting caught up in the magnitude of all that lay ahead- it was one of many reasons she found herself falling in love with him over and over again. 

“Oh, Ben…” She said, reaching out and putting her arms around him, a hug which he gladly returned. Together they held each other as they continued staring up at the soaring collection. 

Rey laid her head on Ben’s chest, doing her best just to take it all in without trying to worry about logistics. She realized she just needed to stop appreciate what the two of them standing there represented…

They were finally in the place they’d dreamed about finding for years- a place they’d fought to get back to throughout more lifetimes than they cared to remember.

“So- should we start looking through them…” Ben asked, impatient to get his hands on the many wonders the library held. 

“How about we go see what the other tower looks like first?” Rey replied, sensing he couldn’t wait to see what was in the other half of the library. 

As they turned to leave, their attention was pulled back by the sound of two hushed voices they recognized right away.

Following where the sound of the voices came from, they walked over to an open stairwell that led down to a lower level of the library. They hadn’t even noticed another story of books was underneath the five that rose above them. 

“Would you look at that…” Rey said, reaching over and taking Ben’s hand, her heart touched by the sight. Seated at a desk which sat in the middle of the lower floor, Layna was doing her best to finish up her work for the day. Jeshan stood in front of the desk, hands planted on it with a devilish grin as he did is best to entice her away from whatever it was that was holding her up. 

“Me trying to get the most work out of the day, while you did you best to distract me with better offers. How very familiar…” Rey teased as she looked up at her husband. 

“How about we go take a look at the Tower of Dark- while there’s no one around to keep an eye on things?” 

“You read my mind...”

“I didn’t, but you bring up a good point. We’ll need the codes to get in.” Ben reached out with his right hand and gently searched Jeshan’s mind, finding where the access codes for the doors to each tower’s key-pad’s were stored. 

Jeshan’s gaze shot to their direction, his eyes narrowing on the spot where they stood at the top of the stairs as he thought he sensed an intrusion in the Force. Knowing everyone else had left for the day, combined with the fact that the intrusion itself felt like his own consciousness, he wondered if he’d just imagined it... 

Seeing no one was there, his focus went back to Layna. 

Moment's later Layna agreed to cut her work short for the day- but not before she returned the volumes she’d been working on to their rightful places. 

Jeshan followed as she stood up from her desk and went back towards the glass elevator that rose through the middle of the collection. As the two of them disappeared, Rey understood her hunch about bringing some books with them had been a good one. 

Giving their former selves a bit more work to do would make sure they didn’t stop in the Tower of Dark on their way out- which would give she and Ben all the time they needed. 

Rey skipped down the stairs and quickly brought the books out, neatly stacking them to the side on Layna’s desk. 

“Won’t that seem a little suspicious?” Ben asked. 

“Trust me, I know her as well as anyone…” Rey explained. “Jeshan will suspect something, but Layna won’t entertain the thought that anything out of the ordinary is going on. She’ll assume she’d been so immersed in work that she totally forgot she brought them with her this morning. She’ll head back to return them to their shelves right away. After that, she’ll be so frustrated with herself for the oversight she’ll want to get home as quickly as possible. Jeshan of course won’t protest one bit when she hurries out- leaving them no time for a final check on the Tower of Dark.”

Ben paused for a moment as he did his best to hold back a laugh. “You _really ___thought this one out, didn’t you...”

“Would you expect any less?”

“No.” He smirked. 

Rey realized right away that Ben’s smirk was about more than just her attention to detail. 

“At least I admitted it.” She said with a sigh.

“I’m proud of you for it. I know that was a big step.”

“Don’t push it.” She smiled, side eyeing him with the same sass Ben had noticed Layna giving to Jeshan just moments before. It was one of the many things he loved about her, though he was just starting to realize how long he'd enjoyed it.

*****

After planting their diversion, Ben and Rey made their way over to the Tower of Dark. As their eyes adjusted again to being inside, they were met with an equally awe inspiring sight to what the Tower of Light had contained. The only obvious difference was the walls and floor were clad in dark Durosian marble, signifying the different subject matter of the texts contained there. The collection that rose before them was every bit as vast as the one contained in the Tower of light. 

If the sight of the Tower of Light had made Ben emotional, the Tower of Dark had him totally coming undone. 

Rey sensed his emotions spiraling and turned to look up at him as he held a hand up to his face. He immediately began breaking down into tears. 

“Sweetheart… what’s wrong?!” She asked, stunned by the sudden outburst. 

“Nothing… nothing’s wrong..” He said, struggling as he tried to not get too consumed by the waves of emotion the sight had caused. “That’s just it… in all my life as a Force user, this is the most _extraordinary ___thing I’ve ever seen…”

Spotting a group of couches several feet away, Rey decided they’d better go sit down together. Viewing the Tower of Dark was having a much greater effect on Ben than she could have expected.

Once they were comfortable, Ben’s tears only increased. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he tried looking up again at all of it. His mouth shook as he looked up at the floors of books above him, trying and failing to catch his breath. Before he knew it he was right back to breaking down as he had been before. 

“It’s alright…” Rey said lowly, rubbing his back as she did all she could to try and calm him. “Whatever you’re feeling, let it all out. If you need to talk about it, you know that’s what I’m here for. If you just want to sit here and be quiet for a bit, that’s fine too. ”

Ben took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily as he leaned back into the couch’s comfort. Somehow he had to get it all out, to share the thoughts that were filling his mind. Once he did, he knew he’d feel better for it. 

“The ten years I spent training with Luke… if I’d seen anything like this at any point during all of that, I never would have…” He stopped as he put his hand up to his face again, feeling sobs threatening to take over once more. 

Rey realized right away what was happening. It was the first time Ben had seen anything this monumental affirming the dark side as an equally valid part of the Force as the light. Everything he’d struggled with as a young padawan was being legitimized right before his eyes. Above them towered a tangible display of just how important the dark side was in achieving true balance in the Force. 

It was clear that affirmation was something Ben hadn’t realized he’d been waiting for his entire life. Finally Rey said the words he hadn't been able to get out. 

“You feel like you’d have never fallen to Snoke if someone had just told you being equally strong with the dark as the light was alright?”

“Yes... yes, _exactly… ___” Lingering tears continued to stream down his cheeks as he felt the combined joy and regret the sight had caused surging through him.

“When Luke trained me, he always drilled the idea of balance into everything, and yet at the same time learning about anything that involved the dark side was forbidden. He wouldn’t even answer the most basic questions. It wasn't hard to figure out me asking about it worried him. The more I wondered about it, the more guarded he became. The whole time the dark was something I sensed inside of myself as much as the light. I can’t tell you how confusing that was… to go through every day feeling like you have to hide a huge part of who you are…”

“Actually I can imagine that pretty well.” Rey interrupted without meaning to. 

Ben paused as he looked at her, realizing what she meant. 

The bond they’d shared while Rey trained under his uncle and mother as a Jedi- the whole time it had reminded her that the dark was just as much a part of her as the light. All of that had been just as difficult for her to understand as the dark side had been for himself during his own Jedi training. 

Ben reached over and put his arms around her, holding close the one person who’d ever given him the opportunity to understand this part of himself. 

A heaviness still weighed on his heart however, one he couldn’t seem to shake as he looked back up at the books. 

Everything he’d suffered during his years on the dark side… 

_All ___of it could have been avoided if he’d just had _someone ___to help him truly understand this part of himself, rather than someone that choose to manipulate him for it.

Rey sensed his thoughts as strongly as anything in that moment. 

The rest of the words he hadn’t been able to get out… 

The deep regret he carried about all the horrible things he’d been made to do... 

She tried to think of something to say as she continued holding him, turning to look up at the books. 

As she did, another thought began to stand out above all else.

The thought of the deep, soul consuming love their shared for the two lives they’d created together.

“We might not be able to go back and save you from all you went through, but there is one thing we can do now that we’ve found this place.” She finally said.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked, pulling away as he wiped his eyes. 

“We can make sure Hana and Ilaria- and all the children in the galaxy like them- We can make sure none of them ever has to go through what you did. Now we have what we need to make sure no one ever does to them what Snoke did to you.”

Rey’s words were everything he needed to hear in that moment.

A feeling of peace began to fill Ben’s heart as she said it, replacing the heaviness he hadn’t been able to shake. All of the suffering he’d been through hadn’t been for nothing. His time on the dark side hadn’t wasted the seven years of his life he’d spent there. 

Going through all of that had given him purpose stronger than anything he’d ever known. 

It confirmed everything he’d felt since they’d first come to Ahch To together. Seeing the Tower of Dark and having the reaction he’d just had- He now knew more than ever that his true purpose in life was to make a brighter future for people in the galaxy like himself. 

Ben was finally able to smile as he remembered that purpose, letting the thought of it wash over him. It was all he needed to let go of the pain and regret that had just moments before gripped his heart. 

As he felt his mind settling, he couldn’t help but sigh as he looked back up at the books….

It began to dawn on him just how much work lay ahead of them as they worked towards achieving that purpose.

“In that case…” He said wiping his eyes one last time and rising to his feet. His mind finally felt calm as that sense of purpose urged him forward. “I guess we’d better get to it then.”

Rey was taken aback for a moment by the sudden turnaround. The man who’d been falling apart just moments ago was somehow suddenly ready to get back to work. 

“You’re _sure ___… you don’t a minute?” She asked hesitantly. “We can sit here a little longer if you’d like.”

“No… the sooner we get to it the better. I want to make sure we have all the scans we need so we can get back and start estimating just how much work we have ahead of us.”

Rey broke into a smile as she felt her heart fill with joy from seeing him recover so quickly. Handling difficult emotions was something he’d been getting better and better at as he worked through processing the trauma of his past. A quick turnaround like the one she'd just witnessed was as big a breakthrough as any he'd had up to this point. 

“Planning out even more work for ourselves… you do know how to get my attention.” She joked, taking his hand as he helped her up.

*****

That evening as they settled into bed together from a long day, Ben and Rey were caught up in the sight of their girls sleeping soundly between them. 

The four year olds were much larger than the babies they’d once been, but they still liked to snuggle up together as they fell asleep. Their legs and arms were twisted together like babies in the womb. It was a heartwarming sight to take in for the two parents as they laid around them on either side. 

“You know- after all we saw today, I can’t help but think the truly extraordinary part of our day is this right here.” Rey whispered, smiling over at her husband. 

“You read my mind.” Ben teased. 

“I didn’t have to.” Rey beamed. 

The love they shared for their children was as strong a bond as anything that existed between them. One thing they hadn’t expected about becoming parents was how their bond in the Force would gain a whole new level of strength. Though having children tested the strength of any relationship, it also grew the love between them. Because of the strengthened love they shared for each other, the bond they shared in the Force became stronger as well. 

As Rey soaked up the feeling of their family coming together at the end of yet another long day, her mind was pulled to another conversation they’d had in this very spot a few years earlier. 

The emotion of the thought was so strong that Ben sensed it right away. 

No words needed to be said as their eyes met, knowing what was on both of their minds. Ben’s green eyes glowed with love as he began to say the words he knew Rey’s heart dreamed of hearing. 

“I guess… now that we’ve found Kaleth… that means we can get back to that other thing you’ve been wanting to do for a few years now?”

“What thing would that be?” Rey asked, unable to hold back a huge smile. She wanted to hear Ben say the exact words. 

“Making more little Solos together…”

“Solos? As in more than one?”

“Whatever you’re up for… however they come.”

Rey looked back through the open door to their living room. The couch and ottoman’s did look particularly inviting... 

“I’d be up for getting started this evening. That is if you are.” She said with a smirk.

Ben couldn’t help but laugh. She was every bit as eager to get started as he’d expected. 

As he thought about it, he realized he didn’t want it to happen as if it were just any other night. If they ended up having twins again, this might be the only time they had the chance to make babies together the old fashioned way. He was determined to savor every minute of creating new life together with her. 

“I’m always up for trying but- if I’m honest I don’t think I’d be able to make tonight a memorable night if that’s what you’re going for.”

“How do you mean?” Rey asked, confused by his hesitation.

“I mean I’m absolutely exhausted.”

Rey giggled as she realized what he was saying. They had in fact had a _very ___long day.

“Alright then- tomorrow… we’ll think of somewhere special to head and...” Her green eyes glowed with excitement as she said the next few words. “Make it something memorable?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tower of Light  
> Rey: Nearly loses it.  
> Ben: Makes it all ok. 
> 
> Tower of Dark.  
> Ben: Nearly loses it.  
> Rey: Makes it all ok. 
> 
> *Contented Sigh* I love them so much.
> 
> Notes on Canon: 
> 
> Everything about the outside of Kaleth is canon, right down ot the statues in the courtyard. 
> 
> I had to come up with the inside of Kaleth totally on my own since we don’t know anything about it's interior. The interior designer in me couldn’t help but nerd out as I dreamed of the possibilities... 
> 
> I decided to make an image of the space first so I could describe it while looking at it. I thought I’d have to build an edit of something totally new since libraries in our world don’t typically look like they could belong in Star Wars, but wonder of wonders I stumbled upon Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript library! This space is incredible, and perfect for our story. 
> 
> Inside and out it looks like something straight out of Star Wars. It also houses our own civilization’s version of ancient texts- it’s filled with rare books and manuscripts making it the perfect model for Kaleth. 
> 
> If you want to know more about this extraordinary space, check out it’s website is here: https://www.som.com/projects/yale_university__beinecke_rare_book_and_manuscript_library
> 
> The types of marble described are the two things that made it a canon space. 
> 
> Wayland marble is an extremely precious marble prized for it's beauty. It was used in the Imperial Palace during the Empire’s reign. Wayland is said to have been “discovered” during the Republic’s second wave of expansion. However being that Tython had residents from all over the galaxy, and they appear to know a lot of things modern galactic people don’t know, it’s entirely possible their reach across the galaxy was greater than the Republic’s even at it’s height. 
> 
> Durosian Marble is another type of stone seen in Star Wars. It’s mentioned as cladding the outside of Corustant’s holding facility. Since jails aren’t typically bright places, I figured it must be dark. We don’t have any dark marble specifically mentioned anywhere in canon, so I had to get creative with that one. Durosian seemed the best candidate.
> 
> Personal note from the author-
> 
> Apologies for the time between updates lately! “Pandemic brain” is something all writers are feeling right now. The collective trauma of a pandemic is hitting all writers pretty hard, and that makes things like memory and concentration (two things crucial for writing plot heavy fics) nearly impossible to maintain at their normal levels. 
> 
> Since I’ve put so much work into this fic, I want to make sure I continue to do it justice, especially as we get to the most exciting parts of the story. Because of that I won’t be rushing through anything, but writing it as the words come to me in their own time. That may mean a few weeks between updates, but I’d rather it take longer to write and still maintain quality than just get it all out for the sake of finishing. 
> 
> One silver lining of the lack of concentration is several later chapters have randomly come to me, which I’ve made sure to write down as they do. Once we get to those, those updates will thankfully fly out pretty quickly. 
> 
> In the mean time, if you need something to keep yourself occupied between updates, I’ve got a new (mostly smut) polyamoury Reylo series I’ve started to keep the writing energy flowing. I’ve realized smut is something I can still churn out easily, mostly because it doesn’t take the concentration and memory that plot heavy stuff requires. 
> 
> I may also be putting some one shots and drabbles up here and there as I take inspiration wherever I can find it…. We’ll see!
> 
> A big thank you to all of my readers for being with me on this journey so far! When I started this fic, I had no idea what an adventure it would turn out to be. I’m so thankful for all of your comments of encouragement along the way. 
> 
> Every little bit of love you give this story creates the sparks that light the fires that keep the adventures going!

**Author's Note:**

> ❤️Don't forget to water your fanfics! Words of encouragement are what keep inspiration magic flowing. ❤️
> 
> Kudos are always lovely, but what really sets an author's soul on fire is getting a comment that someone is enjoying our work. If you're liking this story and want to see more, make sure to let me know in the comments! I love hearing my readers are enjoying a story every step of the way!


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